Georgeanna Jones
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Georgeanna Seegar Jones, (July 6, 1912 - March 26, 2005), was part of the husband and wife team which pioneered in vitro fertilization in the United States. Jones was one of the United States's first reproductive endocrinologist. She is best known for her work with in vitro fertilization, but is also credited with numerous other discoveries, one of which allowed women with a history of miscarriages, to carry their children full term. She also authored over 350 scientific papers on reproduction.
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[edit] Early Work
Georgeanna Jones obtained her B.A. from Goucher College and later obtained her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University Medical School in 1936. She went on to become the director of the Johns Hopkins Laboratory of Reproductive Physiology and Gynecologist-in-Charge of the hospital's gynecological endocrine clinic in 1939.
While a resident at Johns Hopkins, she discovered that the pregnancy hormone HCG was manufactured by the placenta, not the pituitary gland as originally thought. This discovery led to the development of many of the early over-the-counter pregnancy test kits that arecurrently available. Dr. Jones is also credited with using progesterone to treat women with a history of miscarriages, thus allowing many of them to not only conceive, but deliver healthy babies.
[edit] In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
She continued working in reproductive medicine until the 1970s, when Johns Hopkins enforced their mandatory retirement clause. This forced both Dr. Jones and her husband out of the hospital. Dr. Jones and her husband moved to Norfolk where the intended to teach at the newly founded Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Shortly after their arrival in Virginia, the world was shocked by the announcement of the world's first in vitro fertilization birth in 1978 by a British team of doctors and scientists.
Jones and her husband began work on the first IVF project in the United States, funded primarily by a US$5,000 grant. Their work culminated in the first U.S. IVF birth, and the second in the world, on December 28, 1981. The birth of Elizabeth Carr, the first American "test tube baby" helped change the lives of many women who, prior to IVF were unable to conceive.
[edit] Controversies
The majority of the concerns regarding the work of Jones was with the IVF program. Many anti-abortion activists were horrified by the process of creating multiple embryos when only a few would be actually be utilized, the others would be frozen or destroyed and this prospect disturbed many ethicists.
In addition, early critics of IVF spoke of the risk of defects and "monster births."
