Mason Andrews

Mason Cooke Andrews (April 19, 1919, in Norfolk, Virginia – October 13, 2006, in Norfolk, Virginia) was a Virginia politician and physician, known for delivering America's first in vitro baby. A president of the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, Andrews also served on the Norfolk City Council for 26 years and was mayor from 1992-1994. America's first "test tube baby" Andrews had attended the birth of about 5,000 babies in Norfolk before delivering Elizabeth Carr by Caesarian section on December 28, 1981, at the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), which he had played a leading role in creating just a few years earlier. Carr was America's first "test tube baby", and the world's 15th. The first was Louise Brown in 1978 in the UK Writing at the time of Andrews' death, Patricia Sullivan of The Washington Post observed that "[t]he birth of the first U.S. 'test-tube baby' gave hope to hundreds of thousands of U.S. women who were unable to become pregnant. Carr was the first of about 330,000 babies who have since been born through in vitro fertilization in the United States, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine." Creation of a medical school Andrews' community service began during the 1950s as a member of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and the Health Welfare and Recreation Planning Council. While serving as president of the Norfolk County Medical Society, Andrews appointed a bipartisan committee to study the need for a medical school in the area. The study was able to convince the Virginia General Assembly of the need for a new medical school.