Couple Gives Birth to Embryo That Was Conceived More Than 24 Years Ago

Meet Emma Gibson, a 1-month-old baby who is already breaking world records.

Gibson was conceived more than 24 years ago and was frozen as an embryo. The frozen embryo was cooled at a very low temperature in a process called cryopreservation, and the egg was thawed and implanted in Tina Gibson earlier this year.

“Do you realize that I’m 25 years old? If the baby was born when it was supposed to be born, we could have been best friends,” Tina Gibson told local NBC affiliate WBIR.

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According to NBC, around 1992, a couple donated the egg after in vitro fertilization “to a Knoxville faith-based clinic that specializes in embryo donation and adoption.”

While the record is not officially in the books, it seems likely that Gibson holds the record for the oldest frozen embryo to be born.

“We had our medical library, which is very good at finding things, look to see if they could find anything older than that, and they could not,” Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, who implemented the embryo transfer, explained to NBC News. “But it is kind of neat that this embryo was conceived just a year or so before the mother was.”

Tina and Benjamin Gibson knew from early on that they would not be able to have children of their own.

“My husband has cystic fibrosis, so infertility is common,” Tina Gibson told CNN. “We had decided that we were more than likely going to adopt, and we were fine with that.”

After fostering several children, Tina Gibson’s father told her about embryo adoption. The couple originally did not have an interest in it, yet they couldn’t seem to get it out of their heads.

“It was playing in my mind over and over and over,” Tina Gibson said to CNN.

After a series of tests, Gibson found out she was viable for the procedure. During the transfer, the Gibsons were quite surprised to learn about the exact age of the frozen embryo.

Luckily, everything turned out great and Tina Gibson gave birth to Emma on November 25. The healthy baby weighed six pounds, eight ounces and measured 20 inches long.

“I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago,” Benjamin Gibson said in a statement. “Emma is such a sweet miracle.”

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