A baby has been born from an embryo that had been frozen for more than three decades.
Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was welcomed by Lindsey and Tim Pierce on Saturday, July 26, after being conceived from an embryo originally created in 1994, according to MIT Technology Review.
“We had a rough birth, but we are both doing well now,” said Lindsey, 35. She described her newborn as “so chill” and added, “We are in awe that we have this precious baby.”
Thaddeus now holds the record for being born from the oldest known embryo. The previous record was set in 2022 by twins born in Oregon from embryos that had been frozen for 30 years, per The Times.
According to MIT Technology Review, Thaddeus was conceived from an embryo that had been stored for 30 and a half years.
Lindsey and Tim, who live in Ohio, received the embryo through the Open Hearts program operated by Nightlight Christian Adoptions. The embryo originally belonged to Linda Archerd, now 62, who created four embryos in May 1994 during her attempt to conceive via in vitro fertilization (IVF). One of the embryos resulted in the birth of a daughter, while the remaining three were frozen.
When Archerd entered menopause, she began exploring options for the unused embryos but found that many agencies wouldn’t even accept her information due to the embryos’ age. In 2022, the embryos were added to Nightlight’s matching system and placed in the Open Hearts program, which is designed for embryos that are more challenging to place.
After trying to conceive for seven years, Lindsey and Tim registered for the program. They told MIT Technology Review they were open to “anything and everything” to start a family.
Reflecting on being matched with Archerd’s embryos, Lindsey said, “We thought it was wild. We didn’t know they froze embryos that long ago.”
