I thought I’d have to carry out a caesarean in front of all these people That was terrifying. In the end, I didn’t have to, but I didn’t get a wink of sleep that night because of the mixture of emotions.
I wish I’d known: I’d love to have had research appointments overseas. I couldn’t think of anything nicer than being associated with helping people give life. My dedication to it led me to become involved with the test tube baby treatment in the Sixties and then all the other more recent work in facilitating conception.
Most desperate moment: The first test-tube twins were born in Europe as a result of our efforts at the Royal Free. I remember working so much in the early days that I’d only see Jackie once a month. One Christmas, I missed out on every celebration and just sat in a cold room with a hot water bottle and my books.
My early work was working with malignancies, and although I found it rewarding to care for the dying, I longed for happier work So I entered gynaecology I’ve always been fascinated by creation.

I knew I wasn’t academically brilliant but I am incredibly tenacious. So I worked hard enough to get a state scholarship and managed to get excellent grades throughout medical school. Throughout my childhood, it was a toss-up between that and farming, and when I realised there was no way I could get the money together to buy a farm, that was that. It was at that point I realised that my dedication and commitment was probably strong enough to get me into the career I wanted.
The big idea: None of my family had ever gone into medicine, so everyone was a bit taken aback when I chose it. But the combination of a lot of extra tuition and the stability and encouragement that came from the relationship I formed with my future wife, Jackie, at the age of 15, enabled me to prove him wrong.
The second time I took my O-levels, I passed all of them Then I passed my A-levels a year early. That’s probably why my headmaster at my grammar school said words to the effect of, ‘You’ll never make it, Craft,’ when I told him I wanted to go into medicine.

Professor Ian Craft, 62, is director of the London Gynaecology and Fertility Centre. He has over 20 years’ experience in the area of fertility and gynaecology and has pioneered many innovations in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) which are now used worldwide.

Education and background: I had an extremely happy childhood in Woodford Green. Fortunately, my parents didn’t put pressure on me to do well because I was never confident in exam situations and failed my 11-plus and only got two O-levels out of five I don’t think I was under-intelligent After all, I managed to pass my 13-plus I just couldn’t bear the stress. He has over 20 years’ experience in the area of fertility and gynaecology and has pioneered many innovations in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) which are now used worldwide.