Thawed and delivered: Baby born from 1994 embryo sets record
A newborn baby in the United States has set a remarkable new record after being born from an embryo that was created in 1994 and frozen for over 30 years.
Thaddeus Daniel Pierce, born on July 26, is believed to be the oldest baby ever born from a cryopreserved embryo, according to a report by MIT Technology Review.
His mother, Lindsey Pierce, adopted the embryo that had been in storage for decades. “He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby! The baby has a 30-year-old sister,” she was quoted as saying.
She added that she had a rough birth, but both she and Thaddeus are now doing well.
The embryo was reportedly created by Linda Archerd, now 62, who had struggled with infertility for six years before trying in vitro fertilisation (IVF), a relatively new procedure at the time.
In May 1994, Archerd and her husband successfully created four embryos. One was transferred to her uterus and resulted in the birth of a healthy baby girl. The remaining three embryos were frozen and stored.
“I was so blessed to have a baby…It’s been pretty surreal. It’s hard to even believe,” she was quoted as saying.
In South Africa, embryos can legally only be stored for up to 10 years. However, modern cryopreservation methods have made it possible to keep embryos frozen far longer without compromising their potential.
“The cryo machine is temperature-controlled and freezes at a gradual rate to ensure steady crystallisation. After the cryo machine reaches -35°C, the embryos are plunged into liquid nitrogen at -196°C and stored in long-term storage tanks until transfer or export date. Embryos can be stored indefinitely at these conditions, with very little or no change in conception due to long storage,” said Absolute Genetics, a South African reproduction facility.
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