Washington’s first test tube baby, a Brush Prairie boy, celebrates 30th birthday

Brush Prairie — Did you know that Washington state’s first test tube baby grew up in Brush Prairie? Chris Easter, who now lives in Portland and turned 30 this past week, has been the subject of recent media attention. Easter was born in Spokane in 1983 to Kathy and Patrick Easter, who had gone to the University of Texas for the then-trailblazing procedure called in-vitro fertilization. It’s commonplace now, but in 1983, IVF was controversial enough to earn criticism and even death threats, and the Easters relocated from Spokane to Brush Prairie. They’re still there today. Chris, who graduated from Prairie High School, lives in Portland and works as a music promoter. Kathy Easter, now 64, recently told The Spokesman Review that “Chris was actually the best thing that ever happened to me.”