Baby in the US born from a 27-year-old frozen embryo, breaks record

New Delhi: A 'record-breaking' baby was born from a 27-years-old frozen embryo in Tennessee, United States of America. The baby, Molly Everette Gibson who was born in the month of October, broke the record for the longest frozen embryo to result in a live birth. Earlier, the position was held by her elder sister, Emma Wren Gibson. They are born to Tina and Ben Gibson.

In 1992, an embryo was frozen and was kept in a cryogenic freezer in the Midwest. The embryo was thawed in February.

Molly and Emma were born from the embryos donated by the same couple. Emma was born in 2017.

There is nothing called an old embryo, said Jeffrey Keenan, medical director of the Knoxville, Tennessee-based National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC). Embryo adoption is the process that involves implanting in uterus leftover embryos from couples who pursue in vitro fertilisation.

The Gibsons decided to go for the process when they found out Ben has cystic fibrosis. They feared that the disease will pass to their children. It was Tina's parents who dropped off the idea of embryo adoption to the couple. When the couple decided to go for it, the NEDC transferred a 24-year-old embryo, of which Emma was born.

When the Gibsons wanted another child, NEDC transferred two thawed embryos to Tina's uterus. Both of the embryos were Emma's genetic siblings. On of the embryos survived and hence, Molly was born.

Molly weighed six pounds, 13 ounces, and measured 19 inches.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.7 per cent of all the babies born each year are conceived with the help of assisted reproductive technology. However, embryo adoption takes only 5 % of those babies. Only about half of the transferred embryos result in live births.

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