A baby girl named Molly Gibson from Tennessee is believed to have broken the record for the longest-frozen embryo known to have resulted in a birth. The previous record was held by her older sister Emma, born in November of 2017.
What We Know:
- Molly Gibson was born on October 26th from an embryo that was frozen in October 1992, nearly 27 years ago. Her sister, Emma’s embryo, was also frozen in 1992 from the same donor, making them genetic siblings. According to the National Embryo Donation Center and research staff at the University of Tennessee Preston Medical Library, Molly set the new known record for the longest-frozen embryo to ever come to birth.
- Tina and Ben Gibson adopted their daughters’ embryos with the help of the National Embryo Donation Center, which is a faith-based nonprofit in Knoxville that stores frozen embryos that were spared by in vitro fertilization patients. Mrs. Gibson, an elementary school teacher, and her husband, a cybersecurity analyst, reached out to the NEDC after struggling with infertility for five years. Mrs. Gibson’s parents saw a story about embryo adoption on a local news station.
- According to the NEDC’s site, there are an estimated one million frozen human embryos stored in the US right now. The process of embryo adoption helps couples who struggle to conceive of starting a family. “Embryo donation is when embryos that do not genetically belong to a woman are transferred into her uterus,” explained NEDC President and medical director Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, who transferred Molly’s embryo to Tina’s uterus back in February.
- Dr. Keenan adds that there is an opportunity for the implantation of embryos that are even older than 27 years today. However, none have been transferred yet. “All we can say for sure is 27 years, but we’re pretty confident that they can be frozen a great, great deal longer than that,” he said, adding that the average age of transferred embryos at NEDC is around 10-12 years.
Tina Gibson spends time encouraging interested couples to research more about the embryo adoption process and advocating for its wonders. “Emma for sure knows the word ‘embryo.’ ‘Embryo adoption’ is a common term in our home, it’s nothing abnormal… (Our daughters) will definitely know their story,” she says.
