Fertility Treatments Evolve Over Centuries

From Puritan suspicion to modern IVF, the history of infertility and reproductive technology

Mar. 23, 2026 at 3:54am

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This article traces the history of infertility and fertility treatments from the 1600s to the present day. It covers how attitudes towards childlessness shifted from viewing it as a moral failing to a medical condition, the development of new technologies and treatments like IVF, and how societal views on family size and voluntary childlessness have changed over time.

Why it matters

The evolution of fertility treatments and societal attitudes towards childlessness reflects broader changes in medicine, gender roles, and family structures over the past several centuries. Understanding this history provides important context for the current state of reproductive healthcare and the ongoing debates around issues like access to fertility treatments.

The details

The article covers key milestones in the history of fertility and infertility, including the Puritans' view of childlessness as a moral failing, the emergence of gynecology as a medical specialty, the development of tools like the Sims speculum, the discovery of reproductive hormones, the first successful IVF birth in 1978, and the rise of voluntary childlessness in the 20th century.

  • In the 1600s, Puritans viewed childlessness as a sign of moral failing.
  • In 1677, Anton Van Leeuwenhoek discovered spermatozoa in semen.
  • In 1944, Harvard physician John Rock reported the first US fertilization of human eggs in a laboratory dish.
  • In 1978, Louise Brown, the first 'test tube baby', was born in England.
  • In 1981, Elizabeth Jordan Carr was born, the first in vitro baby in the US.

The players

Cotton Mather

A prominent Puritan minister in the 1600s who preached that childless women needed to prove their piety.

James Graham

A physician in the 1700s who treated infertility by stimulating sexual pleasure with a medicine called 'electrotherapy'.

J. Marion Sims

A 19th century doctor who developed the 'Sims speculum', a tool still used by gynecologists, and experimented with artificial insemination.

Edward Clark

A Harvard doctor in 1873 who warned that heavy mental activity in teenage girls could 'wreck' their reproductive systems.

Lillian Lauricella

A woman who gave birth to twin daughters in 1934 from donor insemination, one of the earliest known cases.

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What they’re saying

“'Tis' ordinarily expected that they will bear Children when they marry. If a virtuous Wife be deny'd the Blessing of Children, her not Bearing is not a Trial that she cannot bear. She humbly addressed the God of Heaven, like Hannah, for that gracious and powerful word of his which makes fruitful, remembering, That Children are an Heritage of the Lord, and the fruitful Womb is his Reward.'”

— Cotton Mather, Prominent Puritan minister

“Never may we write her Barren who is fruitful in good works. The orphans are her children, and their loins bless her. Sing O barren! Thou that didst never bear! God's grace and Spirit in thee is better than ten sons.”

— Rev. Benjamin Coleman, Puritan minister

The takeaway

The history of fertility treatments and societal attitudes towards childlessness reflects the evolving role of medicine, gender norms, and family structures over centuries. From Puritan suspicion to modern IVF, this evolution highlights the complex social and cultural factors that have shaped reproductive healthcare.