A newborn named Thaddeus Daniel Pierce has claimed the title of the world’s oldest baby, born to a couple in London, Ohio.
Before you get confused, this isn’t a scenario like Benjamin Button.
While Thaddeus is indeed a newborn, his record isn’t about his age at delivery. It originates from the fact that he was developed from an embryo created when his father, Tim Pierce, was just a young child himself.
Tim and Lindsey, his wife, ‘adopted’ the embryo, which had initially belonged to Linda Archerd, who described the experience as ‘pretty surreal’.
“It’s hard to even believe,” she expressed while discussing the unique situation with the MIT Technology Review.
Lindsey shared that her family and church members liken the experience to something out of a science fiction movie.
While embryo donation is relatively common, what sets Thaddeus apart is that his embryo was created in 1994 and remained in storage for over 30 years.
Lindsey pointed out: “The baby has a 30-year-old sister.”
In the early 1990s, Linda had created the embryos with her then-husband as they attempted to conceive. They successfully developed four embryos, one of which was implanted in Linda’s uterus, resulting in the birth of a girl.
The remaining embryos were cryopreserved. Although Linda initially intended to use them herself, after divorcing and entering menopause, she considered embryo ‘adoption’, allowing her to meet those who would receive her embryos.
“I didn’t want them to go out of the country,” she noted. “And being Christian is very important to me, because I am.”
Lindsey and Tim joined the same program as Linda after seven years of trying to conceive. Once matched, Lindsey received two of the embryos, as one was no longer viable.
One embryo successfully developed into a fetus, and now Thaddeus has entered the world.
Linda hopes to meet the boy, pointing out his resemblance to her daughter as a baby. Seeing him would be a ‘dream come true’, she said, adding: “I wish that they didn’t live so far away from me … He is perfect!”
Lindsey, reflecting on their journey, said: “We didn’t go into it thinking we would break any records. We just wanted to have a baby.”