A baby born just last week holds the title of ‘world’s oldest baby’ – because he was created from an embryo frozen in 1994 and ‘adopted’ 30 years later.
Thaddeus, who is five days old, was born on July 26 to parents Lindsey, 35, and Tim Pierce, 34.
The couple, from Ohio, were inspired to ‘adopt’ an embryo after they had struggled to conceive for nearly eight years.
It was one of four created in May 1994 when Linda Archerd, now 62, and her husband underwent in vitro fertilisation (IVF) because, like the Pierces, they had struggled to conceive naturally.
The process created four viable embryos for the Archerds, one of which resulted in the birth of their daughter, now 30.
The other three embryos remained on ice in case the family wanted more children.
Mrs Archerd said: ‘I called them my three little hopes. I always wanted another baby desperately.’
Once Ms Archerd filed for divorce, she was awarded custody of the embryos – which she then decided to put up for adoption.
Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born from an embryo that was frozen in 1994, on July 26 this year (stock image)
She said: ‘I always thought it was the right thing to do.’
But, given how long her embryos had been in storage, they were placed under Snowflake’s Open Hearts programme, a ‘hard to place’ scheme for embryos that are less likely to result in a healthy birth.
Years later, Mr and Mrs Pierce signed up for the same scheme and the couple finally realised their dream of becoming parents after a successful IVF procedure.
Recalling the birth, Mrs Pierce told MIT Technology Review: ‘We are in awe that we have this precious baby.
‘We had a rough birth, but we’re both doing well now.
‘We didn’t go into it thinking we would break any records.
‘We just wanted to have a baby.’
Ms Archerd added that she found the whole experience ‘surreal’, adding it’s ‘hard to even believe’.
Tim and Lindsey had been trying to conceive for seven years before signing up to the scheme
IVF procedures often produce far more embryos that can be implanted, resulting in millions of surplus embryos being stored in freezers worldwide.
Rejoice Fertility implanted the embryo as part of Dr John Gordon’s mission to reduce the number of embryos in storage.
Dr Gordon, a reformed Presbyterian, said: ‘Every embryo deserves a chance at life and the only embryo that cannot result in a healthy baby is the embryo not given the opportunity to be transferred into a patient.’
The previous record for the ‘oldest baby’ was held by twins born in 2022, who were conceived from embryos frozen 30 years before.
The first groundbreaking successful birth through IVF took place in 1978, when Louise Brown was born, paving the way for millions of births worldwide.
