Nobel Prize medal awarded to British inventor of IVF Sir Robert Edwards just three years before he died could fetch £800,000 at auction

• Physiologist Sir Robert and colleagues pioneered the fertility treatment in 1978 
• Following a '20-year-slog' the first 'test tube baby', Louise Brown, was born 
• Since then, around eight million babies have been conceived via IVF worldwide
• Sir Robert was awarded with the 18-carat green gold Nobel medal back in 2010
• It will appear in Christie's 'Scientific Breakthroughs Of The 20th Century' auction

The Nobel Prize medal awarded to Sir Robert Edwards — the inventor of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) — three years before his death could fetch £800,000 at auction.

The British scientist — along with his colleagues — pioneered in 1978 the procedure through which around eight million babies have now been born.

Sir Edwards was presented with the 18-carat green gold medal in 2010 — with the award now having been put up for auction by his descendants.

The Nobel Prize medal (pictured) awarded to Sir Robert Edwards — the inventor of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) — three years before his death could fetch £800,000 at auction

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Sir Robert Edwards  (right, holding Louise Brown, the first IVF baby) — along with his colleagues Jean Purdy (centre) and Patrick Steptoe (left) — pioneered in 1978 the procedure through which around eight million babies have now been born

'Our father was delighted to be awarded the Nobel Prize recognising his team's research work over many years, which by then had helped millions of couples throughout the world overcome the burden of infertility,' Sir Robert's family said.

The first IVF baby — Louise Brown — was born to parents Lesley and John Brown on July 25, 1978, following a '20-year slog' to develop the procedure in the face of intense criticism of the concept.

On Sir Robert's death in 2013 at the age of 87, Louise Brown led the tributes, saying that the physiologist had brought 'happiness and joy' to millions. 

Sir Robert realised as early as 1958 that fertilisation outside of the body might be used to help treat infertility.

He and his collaborators — embryologist Jean Purdy and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe — faced an uphill battle, however, receiving severe criticism from religious leaders, ethicists and the medical establishment, as well as some of the public.

In 1974, he came close to giving up his work — but was persuaded to continue by by Jean Purdy, as well as by the letters he received from couples struggling to conceive

This, for Robert Edwards, was a 20-year slog ending in what must have seemed [the] almost miraculous birth of Louise Brown,' Christie's specialist Sophie Hopkins told PA.

'A huge number of things ranged against him, from Conservative public opinion to religious leaders who spoke out against the development of IVF.'

'There was a relative lack of support from the British medical establishment.'

However, she added, Sir Robert had the 'tenacity and determination to overcome all the difficulties, all the criticism,' with the award of the Nobel Prize standing as 'testament to an amazing, very modest, but massively determined man.'

Private funding from a US heiress allowed the researchers to continue their work.

After the birth of Louise Brown, dubbed the first 'test tube baby', similar procedures followed in Australia and the US, before being used around the world.

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Sir Robert (pictured here in his study at his Cambridge home) realised as early as 1958 that fertilisation outside of the body might be used to help treat infertility. He and his collaborators — embryologist Jean Purdy and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe — faced an uphill battle, however, receiving severe criticism from religious leaders, ethicists and the medical establishment, as well as some of the public

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Sir Edwards was presented with the 18-carat green gold medal, pictured, in 2010 — with the award now having been put up for auction by his descendants

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Sir Robert (pictured here in 2005) and colleagues later went on to found the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridgeshire, where they continued to refine IVF technology and train specialists in the new field of medicine they had pioneered

Sir Robert and colleagues later went on to found the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridgeshire, where they continued to refine IVF technology and train specialists in the new field of medicine they had pioneered.

By 1987, 1,000 babies had been born following IVF treatments at the clinic — a figure that accounted for around half of all the children born through IVF worldwide at that time.

Sir Robert was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of the achievement, as his two collaborators had died by the time it was presented.

The current auction record for a Nobel Prize Medal was set in 2014, when James Watson's medal for decoding DNA was sold for £4.8 million ($6.0 million).

HOW DOES IVF WORK?

In-vitro fertilisation, known as IVF, is a medical procedure in which a woman has an already-fertilised egg inserted into her womb to become pregnant.

It is used when couples are unable to conceive naturally, and a sperm and egg are removed from their bodies and combined in a laboratory before the embryo is inserted into the woman.

Once the embryo is in the womb, the pregnancy should continue as normal.

The procedure can be done using eggs and sperm from a couple or those from donors. 

Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that IVF should be offered on the NHS to women under 43 who have been trying to conceive through regular unprotected sex for two years.

People can also pay for IVF privately, which costs an average of £3,348 for a single cycle, according to figures published in January 2018, and there is no guarantee of success.

The NHS says success rates for women under 35 are about 29 per cent, with the chance of a successful cycle reducing as they age.

Around eight million babies are thought to have been born due to IVF since the first ever case, British woman Louise Brown, was born in 1978.

Chances of success

The success rate of IVF depends on the age of the woman undergoing treatment, as well as the cause of the infertility (if it's known).

Younger women are more likely to have a successful pregnancy. 

IVF isn't usually recommended for women over the age of 42 because the chances of a successful pregnancy are thought to be too low.

Between 2014 and 2016 the percentage of IVF treatments that resulted in a live birth was:

29 per cent for women under 35

23 per cent for women aged 35 to 37

15 per cent for women aged 38 to 39

9 per cent for women aged 40 to 42

3 per cent for women aged 43 to 44

2 per cent for women aged over 44