Historical information

This stamp was part of a series of four stamps released by Royal Mail in 1999 under the subject 'The Patients' Tale'.
From British Philatelic Bulletin, Volume 36 February 1999:
"This 63P stamp (second step airmail letter rate) recalls techniques developed by British gynaecologist/obstetrician Patrick Steptoe (1913-88) and physiologist Robert Edwards. The popular term ‘test tube’ is inaccurate, the treatment - in vitro fertilization (ivf) involves combining egg and sperm in a glass dish with the resulting embryo being replaced in the womb. Initially developed to treat infertile women, it is now used to help men who produce few or defective sperm. It is estimated that about 7000 ivf babies have been born in Britain over the past five years."

This object was retrieved from the mail room by and added to the collection in 1999 by College Archivist, Ros Winspear.

Physical description

A standard size white envelope with an 'AIR MAIL' sticker attached to from bottom proper RH corner, and a square grey, blue and black stamp in upper proper RH corner. The stamp is a Royal Mail Special issue stamp, beaing an image of a sculpture in a foetal position. Text on stamp reads, "63/ Millennium 1999/37/ Test tube baby/ A Gormley". The envelope is addressed to RACOG, and the sender of the envelope was 'FM McKellar/ 2 Norham End/ Norham Road/ Oxford OX205G/ United Kingdom.'