There is no doubt that in-vitro fertilisation has made many millions of couples into happy parents over the last 32 years, ever since the birth of Louise Brown in 1978, sometimes referred to as the world’s first test tube baby. Professor Robert Edwards, now 85 years old, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this feat; his co-researcher, unfortunately, died before the prize could be awarded and Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously.
When I heard this news I thought to myself, “I’ll bet the Vatican isn’t very happy about this.” and was rewarded by reports that the spokesperson had said that this award was “out of order”—a very English phrase. Well, the National Catholic Reporter has the entire story of the Vatican’s complex response, and it’s the best example of sour grapes I can think of. When you are trying to pour cold water on a development which has brought joy to so many people who thought they were condemned to childlessness, this response compares with taking candy away from babies. The English refer to it as “po-faced”.
I would not expect the Vatican to welcome this prize with rapturous joy. However, this implicit rebuke to the Nobel committee and the medical community at large is likely to fall on deaf ears and mark the Vatican as, yet again, seriously out of touch with scientific progress.