|
Can a baby be nearly the same age as its parents?
On July 26, 2025 a beautiful baby, Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born to Lindsey and Tim Pierce of London, Ohio, ages 35 and 34.
What was unusual about that? Tiny Thaddeus was born from an embryo frozen in 1994!
In 2024, that embryo was defrosted, fertilized, and placed in his mother-to-be. It means as a 30 1/2 year old embryo, this baby is nearly as old as his parents.
How did this happen?
(Story continues from "Read More")
For seven years, Lindsey and Tim tried unsuccessfully to have a baby.
Then they found the Snowflakes program run by the Nightlight Christian Adoptions agency, an agency willing to accept older embryos.
They joined the agency's Open Hearts program for "hard to place" embryos and Open Hearts had some 1994 embryos! The donor was Linda Archerd, now 62.
One of her embryos was fertilized by her then husband and transferred to her uterus. Today, that embryo is Linda's 30-year-old daughter, who in turn has a 10-old-daughter.
This means little Thaddeus has a 30-year-old sister, nearly the same age as his parents, and he is an uncle to her 10-year-old.
Looking back on the process, "We thought it was wild," Lindsey told MIT Technology Review. "We didn't know they froze embryos that long ago."
But they did, and little Thaddeus has set a record for being the "oldest baby."
"We didn't go into it thinking we would break any records," a joyous Lindsey said. "We just wanted to have a baby." They did and he is beautiful!
|