Stories
A couple from the US recently gave birth to twins from embryos that were frozen more than 30 years ago. The twins, named “the oldest children in the world”, were born at the end of October 2022 by Rachel and Philip Ridgeway.
This case went down in history as the record for the longest embryo freeze leading to a live birth.
The embryos from which Timothy and Lydia Ridgeway came were cryopreserved in April 1992, when the twins' current father was 5 years old and Rachel's mother was only 3 years old!
The Ridgeway couple, who already have four children aged 8, 6, 3 and a baby who will soon be 2 years old, have decided to have more children using donor embryos.
For new parents, newly-born twins are, in a sense, older children.
The couple chose their embryos from the so-called “special consideration” category, which stores embryos donated by parents who have a history of certain genetic diseases. The couple were told that the twins' biological father died from Lou Gehrig's disease.
The Ridgeways said they don't care how perfect their 30-year-old embryos are.
The twins' biological parents, who remained anonymous, underwent IVF back in 1992. Of the five thawed embryos selected for the Ridgeway couple, three were viable and only two were successfully transferred.
Rachel, who had a relatively easy pregnancy, gave birth to twins at 38 weeks on October 31, 2022.
Freezing embryos
During the cryopreservation process, embryos are frozen and stored at a low temperature (-196 degrees C) in liquid nitrogen, which stops all biological activity that must resume after thawing.
Embryos can remain frozen for almost an unlimited amount of time. The chances of surviving defrosting are quite high – about 80%. However, only 25%-40% of embryos transferred to the mother result in a live birth.
The Ridgeway twins surpassed the record held by Molly Gibson, who came from an embryo that had been frozen for 27 years.