- Baby Thaddeus Pierce was born from a 1994 embryo
- Embryo was adopted by a white Christian couple per donor's wishes
- Biological sibling was born in 1994 and is now a mother herself
A baby boy born in Ohio on July 26 may be the world’s “oldest baby” in terms of embryo age, having come from an embryo frozen back in 1994. Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born to Lindsey and Tim Pierce after they adopted the embryo from 62-year-old Linda Archerd.
In the early 1990s, Archerd and her then-husband turned to in vitro fertilisation (IVF) due to fertility struggles. In 1994, four embryos were created; one led to the birth of their daughter, now 30 and a mother herself. The remaining embryos were frozen and preserved for future use.
“We weren’t trying to make history,” Lindsey told MIT Technology Review, which broke the story. “We just wanted to have a baby.”
IVF involves fertilising eggs with sperm outside the body, then transferring the embryos into the womb. These embryos can also be frozen for later use.
Following her divorce, Archerd was granted custody of the frozen embryos. She later explored embryo “adoption,” a form of donation where both donor and recipient participate in the matching process. Archerd preferred that her embryos go to a white, Christian, married couple—criteria that led to the Pierces being chosen.
“We had a difficult delivery, but we’re both doing well now,” Lindsey said. “He’s such a calm baby. We’re just amazed and so thankful to have him.”
Archerd was struck by the resemblance between Thaddeus and her daughter as a baby. “I compared his photos to hers from my baby book—they’re clearly siblings,” she said.
The embryo transfer was performed at a clinic run by Dr. John Gordon, a reproductive endocrinologist and practicing Reformed Presbyterian, who aims to reduce the number of unused frozen embryos. “Our faith guides us,” he said. “Every embryo deserves a chance at life. The only one that can’t become a healthy baby is the one that’s never transferred.”
IVF births are becoming more common. In the UK, they made up 3.1% of all births in 2023, up from 1.3% in 2000. Among women aged 40–44, 11% of births were via IVF. In the US, about 2% of babies are born through IVF procedures.
