A boy born in Ohio from an embryo that was frozen for over three decades has reportedly set a new world record as the world's "oldest baby".
Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born to parents Lindsey and Tim Pierce on 26 July, about 31 years after his embryo was frozen.
After trying for seven years to conceive a baby, the couple from London, Ohio, chose to adopt an embryo created through IVF in 1994 by Linda Archerd, now 62 years old, and her then-husband.
"We had a rough birth, but we are both doing well now,” Lindsey Pierce told MIT Technology Review. "He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby!"
Ms Pierce said they didn't "go into it thinking we would break any records. We just wanted a baby".
The newborn is believed to have broken the record for the “oldest” baby, which was previously held by twins born in 2022 from embryos frozen in 1992.
She said her family and church family think “it’s like something from a sci-fi movie”.
Ms Archerd created four embryos, out of which one became her daughter, now aged 30, and three others were left in storage.
Despite her separation from her husband, Ms Archerd was adamant about not discarding the embryos, donating them for research, or anonymously giving them to another family. She said it was essential for her to remain involved in the process, as the child would be a biological sibling to her adult daughter.
“It’s my DNA; it came from me … and [it’s] my daughter’s sibling,” she told the MIT Technological Review.
She reportedly spent thousands of dollars annually on storage until she discovered Nightlight Christian Adoptions – a faith-based agency that runs the Snowflakes program. The initiative allows embryo donors to select the adoptive couple after taking into account preferences such as religion, race, and nationality.
Ms Archerd said she requested a married, Caucasian, Christian couple based in the US. "I didn’t want to go out of the country," she added.
“It's been pretty surreal. It’s hard to even believe," said Ms Archerd, who is yet to meet the baby.
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