This baby is 24 years old
Miracle newborn from embryo frozen 24 years ago
A Tennessee mom just gave birth to a girl who’s almost as old as she is.
The baby miraculously developed from an embryo frozen 24 years ago — the oldest known to ever result in a live birth, researchers say.
The mother was just 1 ½ years old herself when the egg was frozen.
“Do you realize I’m only 25? This embryo and I could have been best friends,” mom Tina Gibson said shortly after being implanted with the embryo.
She gave birth to her daughter, Emma Wren, on Nov. 25.
Gibson and her husband, Benjamin, 33, couldn’t conceive their own child because he suf- fers from cystic fibrosis, which can cause infertility. They were planning to adopt when they learned about the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Knoxville, Tenn., she said.
“I just came home one day, I looked at Benjamin and I said, ‘I think we need to submit an application for embryo adoption,’ ” Tina told CNN.
The couple submitted an application that same night.
After being approved, they began the process of selecting an embryo to be implanted in Tina, sifting through 300 profiles over two weeks.
“It was overwhelming,” said Tina, now 26. “There was so many, and it’s like, how do you pick?”
The couple started to narrow down donors using physical characteristics such as height and weight to match their own, then bigger things including medical history.
Little did they know their eventual choice had been frozen more than two decades.
Such embryos, or fertilized eggs in the beginning stages of development, have been dubbed “snow babies”: cryopreserved, or slow-frozen.
The embryo selected by the Gibsons was frozen Oct. 14, 1992. It wasn’t thawed until March of this year, when it was ready to be implanted in Tina’s uterus.
It is believed to be the longestfrozen embryo to be born and survive, according to researchers at the University of Tennessee Preston Medical Library.
The previous record involved a 20-year-old frozen embryo.
NEDC Lab Director Carol Sommerfelt called the Gibsons’ story “deeply moving.”
Proud dad Benjamin said his daughter is no worse for the wear after her time in the freezer.
“Emma is such a sweet miracle,” he said.
“I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago.’’
His wife said she couldn’t care less how long Emma was put on ice.
“I just wanted a baby. I don’t care if it’s a world record or not,” Tina said.
“We’re just so thankful and blessed. She’s a precious Christmas gift from the Lord.’’