A 27 Year Old Infant?
On December 2nd, Molly Gibson was born. Unbeknownst to Molly, her birth broke a record! Molly was born from an embryo that had been frozen for twenty seven years— the longest frozen embryo to result in birth. The Gibson family was able to receive not one, but two children from embryo cryopreservation. So how does this process work?
The first successful pregnancy using embryo freezing, also known as embryo cryopreservation, occurred in 1983. Prior to the freezing, embryos had to be fertilized using IVF, which is the process of taking eggs and fertilizing them with sperm in a lab. Within a few days, the fertilized egg turns into an embryo, which is formed when cells divide after fertilization. The embryo is then dehydrated and flash frozen at -320 degrees Fahrenheit. Flash freezing is different from regular freezing because flash freezing must be done very quickly at extremely low temperatures to prevent the formation of ice crystals. Ice crystals can severely damage the membrane or cytoplasm of a cell, thus ruining the embryo. Cryoprotectants—substances that protect tissues from freezing damage—are also used to protect the embryo from ice crystals. This whole process takes about two hours.
Frozen embryos are then stored in containers of liquid nitrogen until they are needed. These embryos can be stored indefinitely, and if undamaged they can be used decades after their initial freezing. According to the National Embryo Donation Center, there are currently one million frozen embryos being stored in the United States. Embryo freezing can be done by couples who want to have children later on in life. Donated embryos can also be adopted by people who cannot have their own children, as was the case for the Gibsons. A couple looking to conceive is given various donor profiles to choose from. Once they pick one, the embryo is thawed and implanted into the woman. The baby and the couple will have no genetic relation.
The Gibsons struggled with infertility for five years before deciding to give embryo cryopreservation a chance. It was a success, and their first daughter, Emma, was born in 2017. Emma’s embryo was twenty four years old, frozen three years after her little sister Molly’s embryo. Molly’s embryo was frozen twenty seven years ago, breaking her sister’s record for longest frozen embryo. Emma and Molly are genetically related since they share the same embryo donors. The Gibson family now laughs about the old age of their daughters’ embryos. “We always joke that Emma is an old soul,” Ms. Gibson said. “She does something and I’ll say, ‘That’s the ’90s baby coming out in you.’” The Gibsons, and many other couples, have been able to conceive using frozen embryos. This extraordinary story displays the advancement of modern science and how it has and will continue to positively impact people’s lives.
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