How child was born from embryo frozen in 1994 – Firstpost

A baby boy born in the US state of Ohio has made history after arriving from an embryo that was frozen before his parents had even started school.

Named Thaddeus Daniel Pierce, he was born on July 26 and is believed to be the world’s ‘oldest baby’, as his embryo had been frozen for over 30 years.

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Earlier, the record was held by twins born in Oregon in 2022. Their embryos had been stored for three decades before they were used.

So, how was Thaddeus’s embryo first created?

Let’s take a look:

The world’s ‘oldest baby’

Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born from an embryo that had been stored for 30 and a half years.

He holds the record for the ‘oldest baby’, surpassing the previous record held by a pair of twins born in Oregon in 2022.

Lindsey Pierce and her husband, Tim Pierce, who live in London, Ohio, ‘adopted’ the embryo from a woman who had it created back in 1994.

Speaking to MIT Technology Review, Lindsey said her family and church community think “it’s like something from a sci-fi movie.”

“We had a rough birth but we are both doing well now,” said Lindsey. “He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby!”

She also said that “the baby has a 30-year-old sister.”

At the time the embryo was created, Tim was just a toddler.

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How was the embryo created?

Thaddeus’s embryo was originally created in the 1990s through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for Linda Archerd and her then-husband, who were facing difficulties in conceiving.

Four embryos were produced during the treatment. One was implanted into Linda’s uterus, resulting in the birth of a daughter, who is now 30 and has a ten-year-old daughter of her own.

The other three embryos were cryopreserved and stored in a tank, where they remained untouched for more than three decades.

According to the publication, millions of embryos from IVF procedures are believed to be stored in freezers around the world, as the process often produces more embryos than can be used.

After separating from her husband, Linda was granted custody of the embryos.

Years later, she came across the concept of embryo adoption, a form of donation often handled by Christian agencies in the US. She agreed to place the embryos with families through this system.

Embryo adoption allows both the donor and the recipient families to be involved in the selection process. However, not all agencies are willing to accept embryos that have been frozen for a long time.

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That’s because older embryos are often preserved using outdated techniques, and there is a greater risk they may not survive the thawing process or result in a successful pregnancy, according to the publication.

Lindsey and Tim Pierce, who are aged 35 and 34, had signed up for the same adoption programme. They had been trying to have a child for seven years.

The embryo was implanted at a fertility clinic run by John Gordon, a reproductive endocrinologist who is working to lower the number of embryos kept in storage.

Gordon, a Reformed Presbyterian, said: “We have certain guiding principles, and they’re coming from our faith. Every embryo deserves a chance at life and that the only embryo that cannot result in a healthy baby is the embryo not given the opportunity to be transferred into a patient.”

The first successful birth through IVF took place in the UK in 1978, when Louise Brown was born. It was a major step forward in reproductive medicine and has since led to the birth of millions of children worldwide using the process.

With inputs from agencies