Woman gets pregnant with a 24-year-old frozen embryo, gives birth to a healthy baby girl

A 25-year-old woman from Tennessee gave birth to a child that grew from an embryo which had been frozen since October 14, 1992, almost the same age as the mother. In an interview with CNN, the mother, Tina Gibson, and her husband Benjamin were surprised after Carol Sommerfelt, embryology lab director, told them its exact age. Tina said:

“Do you realize I’m only 25? This embryo and I could have been best friends.”

The lab director told the reporters that this case was “pretty exciting considering how long the embryos had been frozen.” The last similar successful birth was a 20-year-old embryo. Tina, however, said that she does not care whether giving birth to her beautiful baby was a world record or not.

The couple named their child Emma Wren Gibson. She weighed 6 pounds and 8 ounces and measured 20 inches long, safe to say that Emma was born healthy. Tina expressed how grateful she and Benjamin is.

“We’re just so thankful and blessed. She’s a precious Christmas gift from the Lord. We’re just so grateful.”

Benjamin, on the other hand, said that their baby daughter feels completely like his own as soon as he first laid his eyes on her.

Frozen embryos are often referred to as “snow babies.” Thanks to Tina’s dad that she and Benjamin now have a baby who they can call their own. They have been married for years, but are unable to conceive as Benjamin has cystic fibrosis, a condition which causes infertility.

Tina recounted her father’s words:

“I saw something on the news today. It’s called embryo adoption, and they would implant an embryo in you, and you could carry a baby.” I was like, ‘Well, that’s nice, Dad, but we’re not interested. We’re knee-deep in foster care right now.’ I kind of blew it off. I had no interest in it.”

Tina then admitted that she could not stop thinking about what her father suggested. She said that her husband was also thinking about “this embryo adoption” the whole time when she opened up to him about it. Though she was not immediately prepared, Tina and Benjamin eventually signed up on a whim.

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