Fare well, Human Reproduction

Abstract

Bob Edwards and Jean Cohen, the ‘Founding Fathers’ of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), wanted to create a journal for their newly founded scientific society on a par with Fertility and Sterility, the well-established journal of the American Fertility Society (now ASRM). So Human Reproduction (HR) started in 1986 with Bob Edwards, the first editor. He was instrumental in giving HR a prominent place as a scientific journal in the subspecialty categories Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. By 2000, there was not just HR; Human Reproduction Update (HRU) and Molecular Human Reproduction (MHR) had also been launched. From 2001, each of the three ESHRE journals had its own editor. During his term as the EIC of HR (2001–2006), David Barlow consolidated the position as a leading journal in the field. At the end of his term, the HR Editorial Team expanded at the request of the Society’s Executive Committee by the appointment of three Deputy Editors (John Collins, Giorgio Crosignani and myself). I became Deputy Editor at the same time as I became professor emeritus at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, which meant that I could devote considerable time to the Journal. I was appointed the EIC of HR in 2007.