Baby boy born from embryo frozen 30 years ago

Lindsey and Tim Pierce welcomed their newborn son, Thaddeus, on July 26, more than 30 years after his biological sister was born. The Pierces adopted Thaddeus through the Nightlight Christian Adoption agency’s Snowflakes program that matches families with frozen embryos, according to the MIT Technology Review.

In May 1994, Linda Archerd created four embryos with her then-husband through in vitro fertilization after they struggled with infertility for years, according to Technology Review. Doctors transferred one embryo to Archerd and she successfully gave birth to the couple’s daughter. Their other three embryos were cryopreserved and stored. When Archerd and her husband divorced, she continued paying to store the embryos.

After Archerd started going through menopause, she decided to place them for adoption rather than discard them or donate them for research, according to Technology Review. Archerd is a Christian and wanted her unborn babies to be raised by Christian families in the United States.

Last year, doctors at Rejoice Fertility in Tennessee began thawing Archerd’s three embryos, according to Technology Review. While one stopped growing after being thawed, physicians transferred the other two to Lindsey on Nov. 14. One, Thaddeus, developed into a healthy baby.

Does this birth break a record? Thaddeus is the oldest baby to be born after being frozen as an embryo 32 years earlier, according to Technology Review. Rejoice Fertility in 2022 also helped Rachel and Philip Ridgeway conceive twins who have held the Guinness World Record as the longest-stored embryos to be given a second chance at life.

IVF babies account for 2.6% of births in the United States, according to the American Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. The practice remains controversial in some Christian circles.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report about the ethical questions surrounding embryo creation.