A baby boy has been born in Ohio from an embryo frozen for more than three decades, setting a new world record for the longest-frozen embryo to result in a live birth.

Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was delivered last Saturday, 26 July, to Lindsey and Tim Pierce, who adopted the embryo created in 1994 by Linda Archerd and her then-husband during in vitro fertilisation treatment.

Of the four embryos produced at the time, one became Archerd’s daughter – who is now 30 years old – while the others remained in storage.

After divorcing and reaching menopause, Archerd chose not to discard the embryos nor donate them anonymously. Instead, she worked with Nightlight Christian Adoptions, which runs an embryo adoption programme allowing donors to choose adoptive parents.

The Pierces, a married Christian couple, were selected and underwent the transfer at Rejoice Fertility Clinic, led by reproductive endocrinologist John Gordon, who aims to reduce long-term embryo storage.

“We didn’t go into it thinking we would break any records. We just wanted to have a baby,” Lindsey told an international publication on Tuesday, 29 July.

Archerd has yet to meet Thaddeus in person but said, “The first thing that I noticed … is how much he looks like my daughter when she was a baby.”

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