The father of IVF Sir Robert Edwards, died at the age of 87. Sir Edwards helped many couples relies their dream of having a child after giving up.

The in-vitro fertilization or IVF was pioneered by Sir Edwards together with fellow Briton Patrick Steptoe, a Nobel Prize-winner. The world's first test-tube baby was born on July 25 in 1978 and she was named Louise Brown.

The world waited eagerly for lovely Louise to arrive at Oldham General Hospital that captured the imagination of the world.

Since then, about five million IVF babies have been born across the world. Friends of the modest Yorkshireman stated that he was a `true giant of the 20th century'. Every year Britain sees 180,000 IVF babies being born.

Professor Peter Braude, Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at King's College London, said, "Few biologists have so positively and practically impacted on humankind. Bob's boundless energy, his innovative ideas, and his resilience despite the relentless criticism by naysayers, changed the lives of millions of ordinary people who now rejoice in the gift of their own child."