A few days ago, a baby was born after developing from an embryo that had remained frozen for more than 30 years. This is believed to be the longest period an embryo has ever spent in cryopreservation before resulting in a live birth, setting a new world record.
On July 26, 2025, in the state of Ohio, a couple welcomed a baby conceived from embryos that had been frozen decades earlier. Through a process known as embryo adoption, Lindsey and Tim Pierce used embryos that had originally been created and donated back in 1994.
The couple turned to embryo adoption after years of struggling with infertility and searching for a way to have a child of their own. Their journey culminated on July 26, 2025, when baby Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born, marking a historic milestone in reproductive medicine.
A Story That Began 30 Years Ago
The story traces back to the early 1990s, when Linda Archerd had been trying unsuccessfully to conceive for six years. Together with her husband at the time, she decided to try in vitro fertilization (IVF), which was still a relatively new and less widely understood technology.
In May 1994, doctors were able to create four embryos through IVF. One of them was transferred to Linda’s uterus and resulted in the birth of a healthy baby girl. The remaining three embryos were cryopreserved and stored in a medical storage tank, where they would remain frozen for decades.
The daughter grew up and is now a mother herself, with a 10-year-old child. Meanwhile, the three remaining embryos stayed frozen. Linda initially planned to use them to have more children, but life circumstances changed. After divorcing her husband, she gained full custody of the embryos and considered having more children with a future partner. However, personal, emotional, and practical obstacles eventually led her to reconsider.
