A Greek mother who raced against a government age limit gave birth Wednesday in Athens to a daughter conceived from an embryo she had frozen 22 years earlier.
Cristina Rapti-Tzelepi, 54, delivered the 3.49-kilogram baby at a hospital in the Greek capital just months after she and her husband suffered an unthinkable loss. Their 21-year-old son, Giorgos, died in a road crash in October. The couple, who had relied on in vitro fertilization to conceive their first child, turned to a long-stored embryo to try again.
Rapti-Tzelepi faced a hard deadline. Greek law bars women from completing IVF procedures after age 54, and she needed approval from a national authority before that cutoff.
“I only had a 2½-month window,” she said. “It was stressful, but with inner strength and our doctor and his whole team by our side, we got through every obstacle.”
The embryo that became their daughter had remained frozen for more than two decades, an exceptionally long dormancy for a fertilized egg to ultimately produce a live birth. Last year, an Ohio couple claimed a Guinness World Record when a baby boy was born from an embryo frozen for over 30 years through what is known as “embryo adoption.”
Dr. Kostas Pantos, Rapti-Tzelepi’s gynecologist and head of the Hellenic Society of Reproductive Medicine, said Greece’s strict age restrictions deserve reconsideration, especially given the country’s plunging birth rate.
“The law is very strict: 54 plus one day is not allowed. Maybe it’s time for it to change,” said Pantos, who was born in Melbourne, Australia. “I think it’s a right (parents) should not be deprived of.”
By Friday, the new mother sat up in her hospital bed wearing black pajamas, pink balloons and flowers brightening the room around her. She and her husband, Constantinos Raptis, 60, were visibly emotional as they spoke about the decision that brought them here.
“We decided to give life a second chance, to make a new start, bring new life into our home and keep our family’s story going,” Rapti-Tzelepi said. “My wish for her is to grow up healthy and happy, full of joy like our first child, who filled our home with laughter.”
Raptis cradled the sleeping infant, wrapped in a white bodysuit, against his shoulder. He credited Pantos with pulling the family back from despair after their son’s death.
“He took us by the hand and pulled us out of our deepest darkness,” Raptis said. “We escaped from that darkness, and I believe we have a lot to live for now.”
The couple named the baby Georgia in honor of Giorgos. Both children were born through IVF, linking the siblings across more than two decades through the same reproductive technology. The parents have not closed the door on expanding their family further, though they acknowledged they might need to travel outside Greece to do so.
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