A groundbreaking fertility story has captured global attention: **Thaddeus Daniel Pierce**, born on **July 26, 2025**, in Ohio, is believed to be the **world’s oldest baby born from a frozen embryo**—one that had been in storage for over **30 years**, originally preserved in **1994** according to The Guardian and confirmed by **MIT Technology Review** as reported by Times of India.
The embryo had been originally created via IVF in the 1990s for Linda Archerd. One sibling from the same batch was born in 1994 and is now 30. The remaining embryos remained cryopreserved until Lindsey and Tim Pierce, after seven years of infertility, opted for embryo adoption through a U.S. Christian clinic—choosing to give one of the embryos a chance at life decades later as UNILAD and The Sun detail.
Doctors estimate the embryo was frozen for about **11,148 days**, making Thaddeus the longest-frozen embryo to result in a live birth. Though childbirth was difficult, both baby and mother are reportedly doing well following delivery as ABC News reports on medical context, while **Sky News** highlights the record-breaking timeframe in their fertility overview.
“He’s chill, healthy—and proof that embryos frozen for decades remain viable.”
Experts hail this case as a milestone in **cryopreservation science**. It surpasses prior records, including twins born in 2022 from embryos frozen almost three decades prior. Such births—often called “snow babies”—highlight the expanding possibilities of embryo storage and adoption for infertile couples explained by ScienceAlert.
The birth not only redefines limits in **reproductive medicine**, but also raises ethical, emotional, and spiritual questions. Archerd later expressed amazement at Thaddeus’s resemblance to her daughter born in 1994—remarking how surreal it felt to see her DNA come to life after so long as she told MIT Technology Review.
IVF now accounts for roughly 2% of births in the U.S. and 3% in the U.K., and embryo adoption is increasingly seen as a hopeful option for people struggling with infertility. Lindsey summarized the milestone simply: “We didn’t aim to break a record. We just wanted a baby.” That sentiment underscores how modern science is giving decades-delayed hope to hopeful parents.
