The “world’s oldest baby” was born in Ohio last week from an embryo that had been frozen for more than 30 years, according to reports.
Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born via adopted-IVF on July 26 to parents Lindsey, 34, and Tim Pierce, 35, from London, Oh., who said the fertilized embryo was first frozen in May 1994, MIT Technology Review reported.
“We had a rough birth but we are both doing well now,” Lindsey Pierce told the outlet. “He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby!”
“The baby has a 30-year-old sister,” the proud mom said, adding that her hubby was just a toddler when his son’s embryo was created.
The couple said they were floored by the fact that a program to adopt embryos even existed.
“We thought it was wild,” Lindsey said. “We didn’t know they froze embryos that long ago.”
“We didn’t go into it thinking we would break any records. We just wanted to have a baby.”
Lydia Archerd, 62, the originator of the embryo, had similar feelings.
“It’s been pretty surreal,” Archerd told MIT Tech Review. “It’s hard to even believe.”
Back in the early 90s, Archerd and her husband froze four embryos with the then-new technology IVF after struggling to conceive a child naturally.
They successfully transferred one of the embryos to Linda who gave birth to a healthy baby girl nine months later in 1994. That 30-year-old woman now has her own 10-year-old daughter.
The other three embryos remained cryogenically frozen with Archerd maintaining hopes of expanding her family.
“I always wanted another baby desperately,” Archerd recounted. “I called them my three little hopes.”
However, Archerd and her husband divorced and the mother of one was never able to conceive another child — though she kept paying an annual $1,000 fee to keep them frozen.
“I always thought it was the right thing to do,” she told MIT Tech Review.
After hitting menopause, Archerd said she decided to donate her embryos — but wanted to know exactly who was receiving her “DNA.”
She opted for “embryo adoption” run by Nightlight Christian Adoptions agency, a process that allows donors and adopters to meet.
Archerd is now looking forward to a meeting with Thaddeus, who she thinks already bears a family resemblance.
“The first thing that I noticed when Lindsey sent me his pictures is how much he looks like my daughter when she was a baby,” Archerd told the outlet.
“I pulled out my baby book and compared them side by side and there is no doubt that they are siblings.”
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