Carlos Solis
The “oldest” baby in the world was born on July 26 from an embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 1994 and then frozen.
The newborn boy has been named Tadeus Daniel Pierce. His parents, Lindsay (35) and Tim (34), adopted the embryo from Linda Archerd, who is now 62. In doing so, the Pierces set a sort of record: they welcomed a child from the longest-frozen embryo in history to be implanted.
In the early 1990s, Linda Archerd and her then-husband decided to undergo IVF after unsuccessful attempts to conceive. In 1994, the couple received four embryos at a clinic. One of them was implanted in Linda’s uterus, resulting in the birth of a daughter who is now 30 and is the mother of a 10-year-old. The remaining three embryos were cryopreserved and stored, as reported by The Guardian.
“We didn’t think we would break any records. We just wanted to have a baby,” Lindsay told reporters.
IVF is a fertility treatment in which eggs are retrieved from a woman’s ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. The resulting embryos are transferred to the uterus, and they can also be frozen and stored for future use.
After her divorce, Linda Archerd gained custody of the embryos. Later, she learned about embryo adoption. This type of donation lets both the donor and the recipient have a say in who will receive the embryos. Archerd wanted her embryo to be adopted by a white Christian couple. Ultimately, the embryos were given to the Pierces.
“We had a tough delivery, but everything is fine now. He is so calm. We are thrilled to have this precious baby,” Lindsay shared.
“The first thing I noticed when Lindsay sent me his photos was how much he resembles my daughter as a child. I pulled out my photo album and compared them, and there was no doubt that they are brother and sister,” Linda Archerd recounted.
The fertility clinic in Tennessee where Lindsay underwent the procedure is led by reproductive endocrinologist John Gordon, a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. “We have certain principles that stem from our faith. Every embryo has a chance at life. The only embryo that cannot give rise to a healthy child is the one that is not given the opportunity to be transferred into the patient’s body,” Gordon stated.
Photo: pixabay.com
