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Dr. Fred Wirth was a pioneer in in vitro fertilization. The first U.S. "test tube" baby conceived was Elizabeth Carr, born Dec. 28th, 1981. She was actually the 15th such birth worldwide.
The first "test tube" baby was Louise Brown, born three years prior to Elizabeth Carr, in England. Since then, more than a million test-tube babies have been born since.
Elizabeth Carr is now a 27-year-old news content producer for the Boston Globe's Web site Boston.com. In 2003, Carr and Wirth were reunited, as shown in the image above.
Fred Wirth was born Feb. 15, 1941, in New Orleans to Dr. Frederick Wirth Sr. and his wife Sybil. Dr. Wirth received his undergraduate degree at Duke University, and received his medical degree at Tulane University in 1967.
He completed his residency at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, then served with the U.S. Air Force Medical Center at Scott, IL where he achieved the rank of major.
In 1981, Fred Wirth was a member of a team appointed by President Ronald Reagan to investigate the use of life support systems for malformed infants.
From 1984 - 1988, Wirth served with Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Education William Riley on the Southern Governors' Task Force on Infant Mortality.
A memorial service for Fred Wirth will be held at 1 PM Saturday at LifePoint Church in Minden, NV. Besides his wife Linda, he is survived by four children and seven grandchildren.
Posted October 10th, 2009 by Michael Santo
