Reproductive medicine has made significant advances in recent decades. The birth of Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway now marks a milestone. Babies have never been born from embryos that have been frozen for as long as they are in this case.
Twins have been born in the United States from embryos that have been frozen for almost 30 years. This is reported by the Christian-oriented US National Embryo Donation Center. The previous record was almost 27 years. In 2020, Molly Gibson was born from an embryo stored for so long. However, the record from that time remains in the family, because before that it was held by her older sister Emma, who was born from an embryo that was frozen for 24 years.
Twins Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway were born on October 31, 2022, making them believed to be the new record holders. In any case, there is no evidence that an older embryo led to a healthy live birth. "In a way, they are our oldest children, even if they are our youngest children," Philip Ridgeway, the children's father, told CNN. Ridgeway, 35, and his wife Rachel, 34, have four other children, ages 8, 6, 3 and almost 2, none of whom were conceived through IVF or donor material.
The embryos that produced the twins were created by in vitro fertilization in 1992 for an anonymous couple. The husband was in his early 50s at the time and the egg donor was 34 years old. On April 22, 1992, the embryos were frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen for nearly three decades. In principle, embryos can be stored indefinitely, say experts. If they're frozen at nearly 200 degrees below zero Celsius, it doesn't matter if they're frozen for a week, a month, or decades.
In 2007, the donor couple gave a total of five embryos to the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The two linked it with the hope that another couple could use them. Three embryos were transferred on March 2, 2022, 29 years and 10 months after they were frozen. According to studies, 25 to 40 percent of frozen embryo transfers result in a live birth. Parents and child are then not genetically related. However, they have a genetic relationship to people they do not know.
To select their embryos, the couple searched Ridgeway, a donor database. It did not list how long embryos had been frozen, but did list donor characteristics such as ethnicity, age, height, weight, genetic and health history, education, occupation, and favorite movies and music. Some files included photos of the parents and their children. The Ridgeways assumed that shorter donor numbers were older and tried to narrow their choices to those profiles.
The couple had to meet the organization's requirements prior to treatment, which only allows couples who "must be a genetic male and female married for at least 3 years." The Christian-leaning Ridgeways, who want as many children as God intended for them, insisted on the transfer of all three embryos that survived after the five donor embryos were thawed. However, only two of them settled down. Multiple pregnancies are associated with an increased risk for both mother and child.
In principle, embryo donation and adoption are also possible in Germany according to the Embryo Protection Act. However, there are restrictions, for example, the donations may not be used commercially. The chairwoman of the German Society for Reproductive Medicine (DGRM), Dr. Dunja Baston-Büst is quoted in the Berliner Morgenpost as saying that she sees an urgent need for action on the German Embryo Protection Act. After all, the law is as old as the embryos used in the USA. "In my opinion, it is important that not only embryo donation, but also egg donation are finally officially allowed, like in the rest of the world," says Baston-Büst. Gender equality is also needed in Germany. Finally, sperm donation is officially possible.
