A couple from London has delivered a baby born from an embryo frozen for more than 30 years, setting a new Guinness World Record for the longest-frozen embryo to result in a live birth, Business Insider reported.
Thaddeus Pierce was born on July 26 to Lindsey and Tim Pierce, who adopted the embryo through Nightlight Christian Adoptions, a US-based agency that facilitates embryo donation. The embryo had been cryopreserved in May 1994, when Lindsey was four and Tim was three.
“It felt like something out of a sci-fi movie,” Lindsey, 36, a former preschool teacher, said. “We’re huge fans of Star Trek and Star Wars, so the timeline made us laugh.”
The couple married in 2015 after meeting at their local church. Following eight years of unexplained infertility and inconclusive medical tests, they discovered the agency’s “Open Hearts” programme in 2022. The initiative matches prospective parents with embryos that are rarely selected, often due to age.
“We didn’t care about the age or ethnicity of the embryo,” Lindsey told the publication. “We just wanted to give a baby a chance.”
Their first transfer attempt in December 2023 failed. In November 2024, Dr John Gordon of Rejoice Fertility performed a second transfer using embryos donated by a woman who had undergone IVF in 1994. One of the two embryos implanted successfully.
Thaddeus was born weighing 4.5 kg. Lindsey delivered without medication. “I held him and thanked God for our blessing,” she said.
The previous record holders, twins Timothy and Lydia Ridgeway of Vancouver, Washington, were born from embryos frozen for 29 years and 9 months. Thaddeus’s embryo was frozen seven months earlier.
The Pierces plan to tell Thaddeus about his conception and eventually introduce him to his biological mother. “We’ve already bought books about donor embryos,” Lindsey said. “We’re sure he’ll be proud of his sci-fi history.”
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