Embryo was frozen for almost 24 years. Woman gives birth to snow baby

"Snow Baby" born: Woman carries out 24-year-old embryo

A 25-year-old American woman has had an embryo frozen for more than 24 years. Doctors speak of a so-called "snow baby". The embryo of an anonymous couple had been frozen in 1992 for in vitro fertilization to be used by a woman who could not or did not naturally become pregnant.

To move the child to later

There are more and more women who want to have children, but postpone their project to later years, for example, to have enough time for their careers. The so-called "social freezing" is becoming more and more popular. With the help of this method you can create the desire to have children in ice. In the procedure, ova are removed from the woman and frozen. Years later, they can be thawed again, fertilized in the lab and used to the woman. But not only oocytes can be frozen, but also embryos. A young US-American has had such an insert and now born a baby. The bizarre thing about it: The embryo is almost as old as the woman herself.

In the US, a woman has had an embryo frozen for more than 24 years. The young mother was only 25 years old at birth. (Image: tostphoto / fotolia.com)

Embryo is almost as old as the mother

On November 25, Tennessee, USA, gave birth to a girl born from the world's oldest embryo.

As the news channel "CNN" reports, Emma Wren Gibson is the result of an original on October 14, 1992 by dr. Jeffrey Keenan, medical director of the National Embryo Donation Center at Knoxville, frozen embryo.

Emma's parents said they were very surprised when they were told about the age of the embryo in the spring.

"Do you realize that I'm only 25? This embryo and I could have been the best friends, "said mother, Tina Gibson.

Previously, the oldest known frozen embryo that came to successful birth was 20 years old.

However, the now 26-year-old told CNN: "I do not care if it's a world record or not."

Donation of an anonymous couple

With a weight of six pounds and a size of 50 centimeters, Emma is a healthy baby. "It's a precious Christmas present," said the mother.

33-year-old father Benjamin said, "As soon as she came out, I fell in love with her."

The baby's story began long before it was "adopted" by the Gibsons. Her embryo comes from an anonymous couple.

He had been frozen in 1992 for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) to be used by a woman who could not or did not naturally become pregnant.

As CNN writes, in such cases there is talk of "snow babies," potential human lives waiting to be born.

Application for embryo adoption

When the Gibsons got married seven years ago, it was clear that naturally they could not have a baby.

"My husband has cystic fibrosis, and infertility is common," Tina said, adding that they had decided to adopt a child.

But then she drew her father's attention to the so-called embryo adoption that he had seen on the news.

Finally, last summer, they applied for such adoption at the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

After various tests and examinations it was time and she was transplanted the embryo into the uterus. A few weeks ago, Tina gave birth to her daughter.

New world record?

Whether this is actually a new world record is unclear.

"The identification of the oldest known embryo is simply an impossibility," Dr. Zaher Merhi from New Hope Fertility Center, New York, who had nothing to do with the recent case.

According to the information American companies are not obliged to report to the government the embryo used, but only the outcome of the pregnancy, so "nobody has these records".

However, other experts refer to a study on a 20-year-old frozen embryo that came to successful birth. (Ad)