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An East Tennessee couple has welcomed a baby girl who grew from the longest-frozen embryo to ever result in a birth.
Benjamin and Tina Gibson’s daughter, Emma Wren, weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces when she came into the world on November 25.
Prior to being transferred into Tina’s uterus at the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville earlier this year, the embryo Emma grew from had been cryopreserved for more than 24 years, according to a news release.
And, according to research staff at the University of Tennessee Preston Medical Library, that makes her the all-time record holder for the longest-frozen embryo to result in birth.
Interestingly, Emma’s embryo was frozen on Oct. 14, 1992, when Tina was just a year-and-a-half old.
“It is deeply moving and highly rewarding to see that embryos frozen 24.5 years ago using the old, early cryopreservation techniques of slow freezing on day one of development at the pronuclear stage can result in 100 percent survival of the embryos with a 100 percent continued proper development to the day-3 embryo stage,” said NEDC Lab Director Carol Sommerfelt.
“Emma is such a sweet miracle,” Benjamin said of his daughter. “I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago.”