IVF: A Medical Breakthrough or A Medical Burden? Last July, Louise Brown celebrated her 16th birthday. "She's a regular kid who likes sports, movie stars, and MTV. With a mom, dad, and a younger sister, she's a lot like other teens anywhere in the world" (Dreher 1). However, Louise's life did not start out in such a common way. The conception of Louise did not happen within her mother's body. "Instead, her father's sperm fertilized her mother's egg in a glass petri dish under the watchful eyes of a team of scientists at Oldham General Hospital in northern England" (Dreher 1). Within hours, the fertilized egg was inserted into he