A couple from Oregon in the US have just had twins born from embryos that were frozen in 1992, 30 years ago! The birth of the twins has set the record for the longest-frozen embryos to make it through a successful live birth.
The embryos were donated to the US’ National Embryo Center (NEDC) by an anonymous couple in 2007. The embryos were first kept in storage at a fertility lab until fifteen years later, when the couple donated them to the NEDC for another couple to use.
The NEDC, which has helped birth over 1200 infants from donated embryos, names their previous record holder as a baby girl, Molly Gibson, who was born in 2020 from an embryo which had been frozen for just short of 27 years.
“That answer is a resounding yes!”
The twin embryos had first been created by an anonymous couple using IVF in 1992. The man, who was reportedly in his 50s, relied on a 34-year-old female egg donor.
Earlier this year, embryologists performed the thaw and transferred the embryo to the uterus. The twins, Lydia and Timonthy, were born in October just a few weeks ago.
The Ridgeways, parents to the newborn twins, had one of their other four children via IVF before, but never from decade old embryos!
“I was five years old when God gave life to Lydia and Timothy, and he’s been preserving that life ever since,” says father, Philip Ridgeway, in an interview with CNN from their family home.
“In a sense, they’re our oldest children, even though they’re our smallest children. There is something mind-boggling about it.”
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Feature Image: NEDC
