Infant Delivered From 30-Year-Old Embryo Breaks Record

The Oldest Baby: A Unique Journey of an Embryo

An embryo that has been preserved and donated for over three decades has recently become known as the “oldest baby” in the world, after being born on July 26th.

Thadeus Daniel Pierce entered the world in London, Ohio, born to parents Lindsey and Tim Pierce, according to reports from Massachusetts.

In an attempt to conceive for six years, Archerd and her then-husband created four embryos through in vitro fertilization in May 1944. While one of the embryos was successfully carried to term, resulting in a baby girl, the remaining three embryos were kept frozen, which is a complex and costly procedure. By the time the girl was 30, she had a sister, Thadeus, as well as a 10-year-old daughter of her own.

However, it was reportedly challenging for Archerd to find potential parents for the long-frozen embryos. She expressed a preference for donating to a married, Christian couple based in the U.S.

With assistance from her fertility doctor, Archerd placed the embryo into the matching program of the Snowflakes initiative managed by the Nightlight Christian Adoptions Agency in 2022. The agency often reassigned “difficult” embryos into a program where parents were willing to accept them despite concerns about their viability.

The Pierces, who had registered for the Open Hearts program and agreed to accept any embryos, ultimately matched with Thadeus’ embryo. They collaborated with a Tennessee-based fertility clinic that aimed to minimize the number of surplus embryos created during treatment.

“The birth was quite challenging, but we’re both doing well,” said Lindsay Pierce. “He’s so precious to us, and we feel truly blessed to have him!”

Archerd expressed her desire to see Thadeus. “When Lindsay sent me a picture, the first thing I thought about was how similar he looked to my daughter as a baby. I even pulled out baby books to compare—there’s definitely a family resemblance.”