Lesley Brown, mother of first in-vitro baby, dies at 64 - USA TODAY

Lesley Brown, who gave birth to the world's first in-vitro-fertilization baby, has died at age 64, according to news reports from Britain.

She died June 6 at the Bristol Royal Infirmary after a short, undisclosed illness, with her family by her side, the BBC says. A private funeral was held Wednesday.

Brown made history July 25, 1978, when her daughter Louise was born at Oldham District General Hospital in Greater Manchester (photo) after undergoing pioneering IVF treatments by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. She and her husband tried to have a baby for nine years previously, but her Fallopian tubes were blocked.

Brown later delivered another daughter, Natalie, who was also conceived through IVF.

"Mum was a very quiet and private person who ended up in the world spotlight because she wanted a family so much," said Louise, speaking for the family, The Telegraph reports. "We are all missing her terribly."

Louise, who will turn 34 next month, has a 5-year-old son, Cameron, who was conceived naturally.

A Guardian commentator remarks on Lesley Brown's bravery as an IVF pioneer, noting, "Often forgotten is the fortitude of women who faced heartbreak in undergoing a complex – once highly controversial – treatment."

Doctors Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards, and our colleagues in Australia, Alan Trounson and Alex Lopata, had worked for years trying to achieve a successful pregnancy. They believed in the plight of women desperate to have a family.

What is often forgotten is the immense fortitude of the women who underwent this complex treatment, with repeated failure and agonising heartbreak. They too had extraordinary faith, suffering pain, repeated surgery, and the dreaded return of the next menstrual period when treatment was unsuccessful. Lesley, Louise's mother, who sadly died this week, was the first to have a successful live birth eventually and she was indomitable in persisting with a "hopeless" treatment.

She was also immensely grateful to Steptoe for continuing to consider it, even when every option seemed pointless.

In October 2010, Edwards won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for the development of in-vitro fertilization.