Three Decades Later, Life Begins: Ohio Baby Boy Born From 1994 Frozen Embryo

A pre-born life frozen since 1994 has finally been welcomed into the world, in what is believed to be the oldest embryo ever brought to birth.

Tim and Lindsey Pierce utilized embryo adoption to grow their family, per the Associated Press. The Ohio-based couple is part of a small movement of people who focus on frozen embryos currently suspended in time.

For many Christians who believe life begins at conception, it is unthinkable to “dispose of” these fully unique human persons even at their very early stages of development. But embryo adoption remains an underutilized option, especially considering estimates that more than 1.5 million frozen embryos are currently being stored in the United States today.

The Pierces adopted the frozen embryo from Linda Archerd, 62. 

She said she had four frozen embryos after undergoing an IVF procedure more than 30 years ago and gave birth to one daughter. But then she and her husband divorced, stalling her plans to expand her family further. Still, Archerd thought about her embryos and believed they deserved a chance at life, too.

“I felt all along that these three little hopes, these little embryos, deserved to live just like my daughter did,” Archerd told AP.

She found the Pierces through an embryo adoption agency. One embryo did not survive the thaw, Archerd told the outlet. Two embryos were transferred, but only one implanted, resulting in the live birth of one little boy on Saturday.

The biological mother of the donated embryos said she looks forward to meeting her son, named Thaddeus Daniel Pierce, which was one of the stipulations she put forth for the adoption.

Archerd said she already sees the family resemblance. “The first thing that 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.”

“I’d love to meet them some day,” she said. “That would be a dream come true to meet — meet them and the baby.”

Lindsey Pierce told MIT Technology Review that she and her family are doing fine. “We had a rough birth but we are both doing well now,” the new mom told the outlet. “He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby!”

“The baby has a 30-year-old sister,” she said. The outlet also noted that she and her husband, Tim, who are 34 and 35 respectively, were only toddlers when their future son was conceived.

“We thought it was wild,” Lindsey said. “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,” she added, noting how her family thinks the whole thing is “like something from a sci-fi movie.”