Monday Open Line


Yesterday was the 33rd birthday of Elizabeth Comeau, formerly Elizabeth Jordan Carr. Her birth in 1981 was notable because her delivery by cesarean section marked the success of the country’s first in-vitro fertilization, so both her conception and birth involved technology. The in-vitro fertilization technique, sometimes described as implanting a test-tube baby, was first used in England in 1977, with Louise Brown being born in late July of 1978. Elizabeth Comeau is now a journalist and a mother herself. Her baby boy was conceived and delivered in 2010 in the more traditional manner. That year, she joined the nearly 59 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 50 who were mothers. About 4 million babies are born in the U.S. each year. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov/mobile>.