A baby boy born in Ohio last week is being called the “world’s oldest baby” after being delivered from an embryo that had been frozen for more than 30 years.
Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born on July 26 via adopted IVF to Lindsey and Tim Pierce, a couple from London, Ohio. The embryo had been frozen since May 1994, according to MIT Technology Review.
“We had a rough birth, but we are both doing well now,” said Lindsey, 34. “He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby.”
Lindsey noted that her husband Tim, 35, was just a toddler when Thaddeus’s embryo was first created. “The baby has a 30-year-old sister,” she added, referencing the biological daughter born from the same embryo batch in 1994.
The Pierces said they were stunned to learn that adopting embryos was even possible. “We thought it was wild,” said Lindsey. “We didn’t know they froze embryos that long ago. We didn’t go into it thinking we would break any records. We just wanted to have a baby.”
To complete the IVF process, the couple traveled from Ohio to Tennessee.
The embryo originated from Lydia Archerd, now 62, who, along with her then-husband, had frozen four embryos in the early 1990s after struggling to conceive. One of the embryos was successfully implanted in a surrogate named Linda, who gave birth to a healthy baby girl in 1994. That daughter is now 30 and has a 10-year-old of her own.
The remaining three embryos stayed cryogenically frozen. Despite divorcing and never having another child, Archerd continued paying $1,000 annually to preserve them. “I always wanted another baby desperately,” she said. “I called them my three little hopes.”
Eventually, after reaching menopause, Archerd decided to donate the embryos through the Nightlight Christian Adoptions agency’s “embryo adoption” program, which allows both donors and recipients to meet.
“It’s been pretty surreal,” Archerd said. “It’s hard to even believe.”
Now, she’s looking forward to meeting Thaddeus and believes he already resembles her daughter. “The first thing I noticed when Lindsey sent me his pictures is how much he looks like my daughter when she was a baby,” Archerd said. “I pulled out my baby book and compared them side by side — and there is no doubt that they are siblings.”
