40th birthday for America's first test-tube twins conceived via IVF
At left, Todd and Heather Tilton are pictured at age one in Sea Cliff. At right, the twins today. Credit: Bob Luckey and Nan Tilton
In the era before 31-year-old Nan Tilton of Sea Cliff gave birth to America’s first “test-tube” twins, infertile families who wanted biological offspring could only hope, pray or give up.
Tilton had hoped and prayed for years. And she didn’t give up.
Her prayers were answered in 1982 after undergoing a then-novel medical procedure called in-vitro fertilization.
Friday, March 24, marks not just a happy 40th birthday for her two children, Heather Jean (Tilton) Rubinstein and Todd Macdonald Tilton II, but one of the milestone anniversaries of reproductive technology that nowadays yields more than 73,000 newborns annually in the United States — as many as 2% of all babies born.
“I think what’s interesting, now being a mother, is sort of understanding what my mother and father went through not being able to conceive,” Rubinstein said on the eve of her birthday while making Rice Krispies Treats for her 5-year-old daughter to bring to kindergarten.
To celebrate the birthdays, Nan Tilton will head to Upper Brookville to her daughter’s house for a birthday party with her brother, their spouses, the twins’ kids (all five conceived naturally) and the twins’ father, Nan’s now-ex-husband, Todd Tilton Sr., plus his second wife.
“We’re all gonna be there,” said the elder Tilton, 77, of Glen Head.
Nan Tilton, 71 and living in Oyster Bay, rejoices at what the family has become.
“See how it’s grown from the two of us,” Nan Tilton she said.
And Nan relishes helping care for her grandchildren, she said as her 14-month-old granddaughter babbled in the background. Todd II has an auto finance company. Heather and her husband have a wine store in Cold Spring Harbor and a pizza restaurant in Locust Valley.
In an interview, Todd II recalled his youth on Long Island, being just like any other kid. Although the twins' conception was unusual, by the time their peers were old enough to understand what IVF is, the procedure had become much more common and barely registered.
“We were just like any other family. We were just like any other kids growing up,” said the younger Tilton. He added: “Sure, you’ll have a joke here and there, but it wasn’t anything too heinous.”
No matter how hard Nan, an art teacher, and Todd Sr., a bank accountant and Marine during the Vietnam era, tried to conceive, she couldn’t seem to get pregnant, “and she was depressed; she wanted a kid,” he said.
Nan Tilton, a Quaker, sought divine guidance, at a meeting house in Locust Valley.
“I would go to the meeting house for six years and ask God, ‘What do you want me to do?’ And the answer was always, ‘Don’t give up,’ ” she said.
The couple tried a sperm donor. That failed too, Todd Sr. said. The doctors concluded that her fallopian tubes were blocked, and “my sperm was, let’s call it, low. It was the proper amount of sperm, but the majority was not fully matured,” Todd said.
He added: “We thought it was me. Then we found out it was both of us.”
Then, one night, on the national news, the couple saw a segment about in-vitro fertilization and the potential to have the procedure done in Virginia.
In in-vitro fertilization, one or more eggs is removed from the woman, fertilized with sperm in a laboratory, and reimplanted in the uterus.
Several years earlier, the world’s first “test-tube baby” — the parlance at the time — was born in Oldham, northwest England: Louise Brown, on July 25, 1978. The world’s first IVF twins were born on June 6, 1981, in Melbourne, Australia.
Around that time, there was controversy in the United States and beyond, with some theologians and others criticizing the IVF trials as unethical experimentation, with the possibility of leading to a deformed infant, as well as worries, as one minister put it, about “meddling” with God’s plan. There was also the issue of what should be done with eggs that were not used.
Three years after the world’s first IVF child, on Dec. 28, 1981, the first American was born via IVF: Elizabeth Carr, in Virginia.
On Long Island, Nan and Todd Tilton tried but had trouble at first finding a doctor in the metropolitan area who would issue a referral to a clinic in Virginia where IVF was being done.
Finally, the couple found a doctor in Roslyn to write a referral, connected with the clinic and traveled down south. Five eggs were harvested. Four were fertilized and implanted. Three took. Two survived.
“I felt like I was led by the hand to the doctors down in Virginia,” Nan said.
On March 24, 1983, Nan Tilton gave birth via cesarean section at North Shore University Hospital: Heather Jean arrived first, at 10:53 a.m., seven pounds; Todd Macdonald Tilton II arrived at 10:54 a.m., an ounce-and-a-half heavier, Newsday reported the next day.
Within five years, 100 sets had been born in the U.S., Newsday reported for the twins' fifth birthday.
Between 1987 and 2015, more than 1 million babies were born via IVF and other assisted reproductive technology, according to a Penn Medicine article.
Since 1996, the number of babies born via assisted reproductive technology has risen more than threefold, according to the Pew Research Center.
For the Tiltons, after news broke of the couple’s good fortune, the family was flooded by calls and letters from would-be moms and dads desperate for help and advice.
“They were people that had infertility, like me,” Nan Tilton said Monday.
With the help of a professional writer, the couple wound up publishing a book from Doubleday about in-vitro fertilization: “Making Miracles.”
In the era before 31-year-old Nan Tilton of Sea Cliff gave birth to America’s first “test-tube” twins, infertile families who wanted biological offspring could only hope, pray or give up.
Tilton had hoped and prayed for years. And she didn’t give up.
Her prayers were answered in 1982 after undergoing a then-novel medical procedure called in-vitro fertilization.
Nan Tilton, 71, gave birth 40 years ago, March 24, to the nation's first IVF twins. Tilton poses at her daughter's restaurant, the Piñons Pizza Company in Locust Valley. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Friday, March 24, marks not just a happy 40th birthday for her two children, Heather Jean (Tilton) Rubinstein and Todd Macdonald Tilton II, but one of the milestone anniversaries of reproductive technology that nowadays yields more than 73,000 newborns annually in the United States — as many as 2% of all babies born.
WHAT TO KNOW
- America’s first test-tube twins were born on Long Island on March 24, 1983, as a result of in-vitro fertilization.
- The twins, turning 40, plan to celebrate their birthdays with a family party in Upper Brookville.
- More than 73,000 babies were born in 2020 via IVF — as many as 2% of all U.S. births.
“I think what’s interesting, now being a mother, is sort of understanding what my mother and father went through not being able to conceive,” Rubinstein said on the eve of her birthday while making Rice Krispies Treats for her 5-year-old daughter to bring to kindergarten.
Beginning with science, a family grows
To celebrate the birthdays, Nan Tilton will head to Upper Brookville to her daughter’s house for a birthday party with her brother, their spouses, the twins’ kids (all five conceived naturally) and the twins’ father, Nan’s now-ex-husband, Todd Tilton Sr., plus his second wife.
“We’re all gonna be there,” said the elder Tilton, 77, of Glen Head.
Nan Tilton, 71 and living in Oyster Bay, rejoices at what the family has become.
“See how it’s grown from the two of us,” Nan Tilton she said.
Todd, left, and Heather Tilton, at age 1 in Sea Cliff. Credit: Newsday/Bob Luckey
And Nan relishes helping care for her grandchildren, she said as her 14-month-old granddaughter babbled in the background. Todd II has an auto finance company. Heather and her husband have a wine store in Cold Spring Harbor and a pizza restaurant in Locust Valley.
In an interview, Todd II recalled his youth on Long Island, being just like any other kid. Although the twins' conception was unusual, by the time their peers were old enough to understand what IVF is, the procedure had become much more common and barely registered.
“We were just like any other family. We were just like any other kids growing up,” said the younger Tilton. He added: “Sure, you’ll have a joke here and there, but it wasn’t anything too heinous.”
Nan Tilton holds Todd II and Heather, while her then-husband, Todd Tilton, kneels beside her as they talk to the media at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset on March 30, 1983. Credit: Photo by Karen Wiles/Photo by Karen Wiles
Seeking help from above
No matter how hard Nan, an art teacher, and Todd Sr., a bank accountant and Marine during the Vietnam era, tried to conceive, she couldn’t seem to get pregnant, “and she was depressed; she wanted a kid,” he said.
Nan Tilton, a Quaker, sought divine guidance, at a meeting house in Locust Valley.
“I would go to the meeting house for six years and ask God, ‘What do you want me to do?’ And the answer was always, ‘Don’t give up,’ ” she said.
The couple tried a sperm donor. That failed too, Todd Sr. said. The doctors concluded that her fallopian tubes were blocked, and “my sperm was, let’s call it, low. It was the proper amount of sperm, but the majority was not fully matured,” Todd said.
He added: “We thought it was me. Then we found out it was both of us.”
Then, one night, on the national news, the couple saw a segment about in-vitro fertilization and the potential to have the procedure done in Virginia.
In in-vitro fertilization, one or more eggs is removed from the woman, fertilized with sperm in a laboratory, and reimplanted in the uterus.
Several years earlier, the world’s first “test-tube baby” — the parlance at the time — was born in Oldham, northwest England: Louise Brown, on July 25, 1978. The world’s first IVF twins were born on June 6, 1981, in Melbourne, Australia.
Around that time, there was controversy in the United States and beyond, with some theologians and others criticizing the IVF trials as unethical experimentation, with the possibility of leading to a deformed infant, as well as worries, as one minister put it, about “meddling” with God’s plan. There was also the issue of what should be done with eggs that were not used.
Three years after the world’s first IVF child, on Dec. 28, 1981, the first American was born via IVF: Elizabeth Carr, in Virginia.
On Long Island, Nan and Todd Tilton tried but had trouble at first finding a doctor in the metropolitan area who would issue a referral to a clinic in Virginia where IVF was being done.
Finally, the couple found a doctor in Roslyn to write a referral, connected with the clinic and traveled down south. Five eggs were harvested. Four were fertilized and implanted. Three took. Two survived.
“I felt like I was led by the hand to the doctors down in Virginia,” Nan said.
The twins arrive
On March 24, 1983, Nan Tilton gave birth via cesarean section at North Shore University Hospital: Heather Jean arrived first, at 10:53 a.m., seven pounds; Todd Macdonald Tilton II arrived at 10:54 a.m., an ounce-and-a-half heavier, Newsday reported the next day.
The Tiltons leave North Shore University Hospital in 1983. Credit: Newsday/Karen Wiles
Within five years, 100 sets had been born in the U.S., Newsday reported for the twins' fifth birthday.
Between 1987 and 2015, more than 1 million babies were born via IVF and other assisted reproductive technology, according to a Penn Medicine article.
Since 1996, the number of babies born via assisted reproductive technology has risen more than threefold, according to the Pew Research Center.
For the Tiltons, after news broke of the couple’s good fortune, the family was flooded by calls and letters from would-be moms and dads desperate for help and advice.
“They were people that had infertility, like me,” Nan Tilton said Monday.
With the help of a professional writer, the couple wound up publishing a book from Doubleday about in-vitro fertilization: “Making Miracles.”
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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