Virginia’s where the first American IVF baby was born. On Thursday, she’ll attend the State of the Union.

Since in vitro fertilization was pioneered in Norfolk in the 1970s and 80s, the medical procedure has become a widespread alternative for couples struggling with infertility, now accounting for 1 to 3% of births in the U.S.

The procedure has become far more known since the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos fertilized in the state can be considered children.

Elizabeth Carr started her life at what is now Sentara Norfolk General Hospital on Dec. 28, 1981, after the procedure was developed by husband-and-wife research team Dr. Howard W. Jones Jr. and Dr. Georgeanna Seeger Jones. Carr was the first child born through IVF in the United States.

Carr has been educating people about the issue since she was a little girl. She will be attending the upcoming State of the Union address Thursday at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

In February, Kaine co-sponsored the Access to Family Building Act, legislation that would ensure access to in vitro fertilization. Kaine said he was shocked at the ruling in Alabama, which would further complicate access to IVF.

“This has proven to be a life-creating innovation and technology for people dealing with fertility issues,” Kaine said. The bill he is co-sponsoring would protect patients’ right to IVF, doctors’ right to provide IVF and insurers’ right to cover IVF. It does not create an insurance mandate, he said.

In vitro is Latin for “within the glass.” In medicine, it means a process takes place in a test tube or culture dish, outside of a living organism. In IVF, doctors extract eggs from ovaries and fertilize them with sperm. After the initial cells divide for three to five days, the embryos can either be frozen or implanted into a uterus to begin pregnancy. The frozen embryos can be stored to use later.

IVF has paved the way to parenthood for couples with fertility issues. It also allows people who may become infertile due to illness or medical procedures to preserve fertilized eggs. IVF is an option for couples to have a genetic connection to babies borne by surrogate, and has become a popular choice for same-sex couples who want to have children.

But the procedure and medications can be prohibitively expensive and physically difficult. The odds of success have improved over time, but the procedure accounts for an attrition rate — not every embryo results in a successful pregnancy, for a variety of reasons.

IVF has always been polarizing. What many regarded as scientific breakthrough and a boon to couples hoping to build their families, others regarded as playing God.

Howard Jones, the doctor who pioneered the practice in Norfolk, engaged with the controversy and spoke in favor of IVF throughout his life. In 1985, he and Georgeanna Jones took part in a Vatican discussion on the ethical dilemmas IVF posed. In 2012, he lobbied against a “personhood bill” in Virginia stating that life begins at conception.

Jones, 101 at the time, said that designation could interfere with fertility treatment.

The Alabama decision states that an 1872 law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.” The ruling raises questions for providers and patients, such as if they can freeze embryos or if patients can donate or destroy unused embryos. Several hospitals and clinics in Alabama have paused IVF treatments since the ruling.

Monica Pinier, a Hampton Roads mom, conceived her twins through IVF treatments. After spending a combined $60,000 on fertility treatments and an adoption that didn’t pan out, Pinier said she made the difficult decision to discard her final embryo. She simply couldn’t afford to go through another cycle of implantation.

“Things like this (the Alabama ruling) are popping up that just put so much shame on my choice as a woman,” Pinier said at a roundtable discussion organized by Kaine on Tuesday in Norfolk.

The Alabama ruling was devastating, Carr said. It felt like a “personal attack” against her, other babies born via IVF and parents trying to conceive using IVF.

Carr said she is looking forward to attending the State of the Union and humbled to represent the IVF community at the event.

Cianna Morales, 757-957-1304, cianna.morales@virginiamedia.com