First US test-tube baby mourns death of doctor; `He was family,' says Oakmont grad Elizabeth Carr, formerly of Westminster.Byline: Martin Griffith Dr. Frederick "Fred" Wirth Jr., the physician to America's first test-tube baby test-tube baby: see in vitro fertilization. test-tube baby Louise Brown; first successful fertilization outside the body (1978). [Br. Hist.: Facts (1978), 596–597] See : Childbirth , has died, his family said Friday. He was 68. Wirth died Monday of pancreatic cancer pancreatic cancer Malignant tumour of the pancreas. Risk factors include smoking, a diet high in fat, exposure to certain industrial products, and diseases such as diabetes and chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatic cancer is more common in men. in Carson City Carson City, city (1990 pop. 40,443), state capital, W Nev., in the Eagle valley; inc. 1875. The city is a trade center for a mining and agricultural area. State government is the major employer, and tourism is economically important. , Nev., said his wife, Linda Wirth. He moved three years ago to nearby Minden, 50 miles to the south. Wirth gained national attention as the neonatologist who cared for Elizabeth Jordan Carr Elizabeth Jordan Carr (born 28 December 1981) was the United States' first baby born from the in-vitro fertilization procedure and the 15th in the world. The technique was conducted at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk under the direction of Doctors Howard Jones and after her birth on Dec. 28, 1981. Carr, now a 27-year-old news content producer for The Boston Globe's Web site Boston.com, recalled Wirth as "the guy who took me out of the delivery room and carried me under his arm like I was a football." Ms. Carr is formerly of Westminster, Mass., and a graduate of Oakmont Regional High School Oakmont Regional High School is a public high school in New England, located in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Its students come from both Ashburnham and neighboring Westminster which together comprise the regional School District. The superintendent of the district is Dr. . She said Wirth conducted tests after she was delivered by Dr. Mason Andrews and Dr. Howard Jones Howard Jones is the name of:
Wirth pronounced her healthy and normal at the first news conference, which the nation watched eagerly at a time when such medical technology was new and scary. "I don't look at him as a doctor, he was family. It (his death) is part of losing your family," Carr said. Wirth met Carr in 2003 in Boston, where the two discussed a letter he wrote to her the day after she was born. The four-page letter tells her that in spite of her unusual conception - in a petri dish pe·tri dish n. A shallow circular dish with a loose-fitting cover, used to culture bacteria or other microorganisms. Petri dish a shallow, circular, glass or disposable plastic dish used to grow bacteria on solid media such as agar. - she was a normal human being. Carr said it was comforting to have someone other than her parents tell her that, and the letter got her through tough times of feeling insecure. "This man told me that he could tell I would turn out just fine," she said. "He told me no matter how hard things got that I had two parents who really wanted to have a baby of their own." At the meeting, Wirth said he always wondered what kind of a woman Carr had become. She graduated the next year from Simmons College Simmons College may refer to:
"She's incredible, not just intellectually, but more important, emotionally," he said. "To me, she's a testament to the power of the reproductive energy that we have in the human race." Carr's father, Roger Carr Roger Dale Carr (born July 1, 1952 in Seminole, Oklahoma) is a former National Football League wide receiver who played mainly for the Baltimore Colts. He was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1976 season. He helped the Colts win the AFC East Division from 1975-77. of Fitchburg, Mass., described Wirth as an intelligent, caring physician who made him and his wife, Judy, feel comfortable before and after the birth. Roger Carr said his daughter was the 15th test-tube baby born worldwide. "The medical community has lost a wonderful, loving physician who was always trying to help his patients," he said. "We will always have a special place in our heart for him." Elizabeth Carr was born three years after the world's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in England. More than a million test-tube babies have been born since. During the last decade, Wirth authored "Prenatal Parenting" and established the Institute for Perinatal Education. He thought parents could have happier children if they avoided anger, managed stress and avoided other risky behaviors during pregnancy, Linda Wirth said. "He really believed world peace begins in the womb, that we have to birth a new generation of happy children that will learn that war and murder is not the answer," she said. Wirth cared for about 10,000 babies over his career and worked at Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Pennsylvania about 10 days a month up until June, Linda Wirth said. He also was licensed to practice medicine in Maine, New Jersey and Virginia. The New Orleans native received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and his medical degree from Tulane University in 1967. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to a study panel on life support systems for malformed mal·formed adj. Abnormally or faultily formed. infants. He also served on the Southern Governors' Task Force on Infant Mortality (hardware) infant mortality - It is common lore among hackers (and in the electronics industry at large) that the chances of sudden hardware failure drop off exponentially with a machine's time since first use (that is, until the relatively distant time at which enough mechanical in 1984-88. Other survivors include four children and seven grandchildren. A memorial service was held yesterday at LifePoint Church in Minden. ART: PHOTO CUTLINE: Elizabeth Jordan Carr, America's first test-tube baby and formerly of Westminster, is shown with Dr. Frederick "Fred" Wirth Jr., the neonatologist who cared for her when she was born in 1981, during a meeting in Boston on Sept. 23, 2003. PHOTOG pho·tog n. Informal A person who takes photographs, especially as a profession; a photographer. : 2003 AP FILE PHOTO |
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