Baby born in Ohio from embryo frozen for nearly 31 years
A baby born to an Ohio couple came from an embryo that had been frozen for over 30 years, the longest time an embryo has been stored before birth.
Linda and Tim Pierce, who had been fighting infertility for years, used a handful of embryos donated in 1994 to have a child. Their son was born on July 26 from an embryo that had been in storage for 11,148 days, which, the couple's doctor said, sets a record.
The move, known as embryo adoption, allows the adoptive mother to carry her genetically unrelated child and experience pregnancy and delivery.
"Rather than adopting an infant that is already born, adoptive parents begin the process nine months earlier by adopting a frozen embryo donated by a couple who has been through in vitro fertilization," Considering Adoption explained on its website.
The concept has existed since the '90s but is now gaining more attention, especially among certain fertility clinics and advocates—often the Christian-centered ones—that oppose discarding unused embryos. They believe life begins at or near conception and that every embryo should be treated like a child in need of a home.
Linda Archerd, 62, who donated her embryos to the Pierces, said her embryos are "three little hopes" that "deserved to live just like my daughter did."
According to a MIT Technology Review report, Archerd turned to IVF in 1994, at a time when advances in freezing, thawing, and transferring embryos were improving and offering new hope to aspiring parents.
She created four embryos to use them all, but after giving birth to her daughter, her divorce from her husband disrupted her plans to have more children.
As the years turned into decades—and storage fees mounted—Archerd grappled with guilt over what to do with the remaining embryos.
Eventually, she connected with Snowflakes, a program under Nightlight Christian Adoptions, which facilitates open embryo adoptions. Archerd said she preferred a married caucasian, Christian couple living in the US to adopt her embryos.
“I wanted to be a part of this baby’s life,” she said, as per Associated Press. “And I wanted to know the adopting parents.”
But it wasn't a simple process. Archerd had to contact her original fertility clinic in Oregon and dig through paper records to get the necessary documents for the donation.
The embryos then had to be shipped from Oregon to the Pierces’ doctor in Tennessee.
The facility, Rejoice Fertility, is known for refusing to discard embryos and for working with outdated storage containers.
Of the three embryos Archerd donated to the Pierces, one failed to survive the thaw. Two were transferred to Lindsey Pierce’s uterus, and only one successfully implanted.
Dr. John David Gordon said the transfer of the nearly 31-year-old embryo marks the longest-frozen embryo to result in a live birth.
He noted that his clinic assisted in the previous record when Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway were born from embryos frozen for 30 years, or 10,905 days.
"I think that these stories catch the imagination," Gordon said. "But I think they also provide a little bit of a cautionary tale to say: Why are these embryos sitting in storage? You know, why do we have this problem?"
Only around 2% of births in the United States result from IVF, and an even smaller percentage involve using donated embryos, according to AP.
Medical experts estimate that around 1.5 million frozen embryos are currently stored across the country. Many of them remain in limbo, as parents struggle to decide what to do with the embryos left over from IVF procedures.
What makes the situation more complex is a 2024 ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court stating that frozen embryos hold the same legal status as children. In response, state officials implemented a temporary measure to protect fertility clinics from legal liability related to the decision, but uncertainty remains about the future of stored embryos.
In a statement, Lindsey and Tim Pierce said the clinic's support was just what they needed.
"We didn't go into this thinking about records—we just wanted to have a baby," Lindsey said.
Archerd, meanwhile, shared that though she's relieved that her embryos have ound a home, she's sad that the baby couldn't be with her. She's also hopeing the Pierces would send pictures, though she noted they have already sent several after the birth.
"I'd love to meet them some day," she said. "That would be a dream come true to meet—meet them and the baby."
