Baby Born From Embryo Frozen in 1992

Embryo Frozen Over 27 Years Ago

A baby girl has been born from an embryo first created and frozen in October of 1992, although she could have been born at any time over the past two decades. The baby’s birth is a record for the longest-frozen embryo to be born.

Roughly 1 Million Embryos Currently Stored in the United States

When couples go through IVF, there are often remaining embryos — which are frozen and stored for later use.  If a family decides they are done having children but still have embryos remaining, they can keep them frozen and stored, donate them to medical research, donate them to a couple who is unable to conceive, or allow them to thaw — which means they are no longer viable. An estimated 1 million human embryos are stored in the U.S. right now.

From Dr. Vinay Gunnala

The embryo was created and frozen.  27 years later it was thawed, transferred, and resulted in a healthy pregnancy.  One of the major scientific advancements since the inception of IVF in 1978 has been in freezing and thawing of gametes (eggs, sperm, and embryos).  There is minimal to no harm with current techniques of freezing and thawing. This means the women’s eggs, man’s sperm, or couple’s embryos do not age with them.  More importantly there is no additive harm to one’s gametes if they are frozen for one day, one year, or 27 years.  Embryo freezing can maximize a couple’s ability to achieve their optimal family size if they intend to delay pregnancy or if they will be in further advanced age groups when trying for baby number two or three, etc.

More From Southwest Fertility Center

SWFC has an excellent, full donor program to include donor embryos.  Currently, we have over 50 blastocyst (day 5 or 6) embryos, as well as many 2PN’s (day 2-3).

SWFC has made embryo adoption affordable!  The pricing of donor embryos is less than 1/2 the price of donor eggs!  Please contact Janet, our billing manager, for more information. 602-956-7481, option 5.