She finally had a baby — with a 24-year-old frozen embryo
She is a ‘sweet miracle’
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Marwa Eltagouri.
When Tina Gibson got married seven years ago, the 26-year-old knew it was unlikely that she would have children naturally. Her husband, 33-year-old Benjamin Gibson, had cystic fibrosis, a condition that can make men infertile, the couple told CNN.
The East Tennessee pair decided they would eventually adopt a child instead — and that they would foster several children in the meantime.
Then, last year, during a break between foster children, her father told them about something he’d heard on the news — embryo adoption, according to CNN. Gibson couldn’t get the idea out of her head. By spring had three embryos from the same anonymous donor transferred into her uterus.
It was only when she was preparing for the transfer that a doctor and lab director explained the embryos Gibson had chosen could lead to a “world record,” she told CNN.
On Nov. 25, Gibson gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Emma Wren Gibson.
“People say, ‘oh it’s science,’ but no I think it’s a gift from the Lord. It’s a gift from the Lord, for sure,” Tina Gibson told NBC local affiliate WBIR.
The National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville, Tenn. — the embryo adoption program that helped Gibson get pregnant — said Emma holds the record for the longest-frozen embryo to come to birth, citing research staff at the University of Tennessee Preston Medical Library in Knoxville.
The embryo was frozen Oct. 14, 1992, when Gibson was about 18 months old, and was thawed on March 13, 2017.
Surprised by the age of the thawed embryos, Gibson said in March, “Do you realize I’m only 25? This embryo and I could have been best friends,” according to CNN.
But some experts say it’s unclear whether Emma’s birth is, in fact, a record. Zaher Merhi, director of IVF research and development at New Hope Fertility Center in New York, told CNN that American companies are not required to report the age of the embryos they transfer to the government — just the outcome of the pregnancies.
“Nobody has these records,” he said.
While Gibson said she was amazed by the age of the embryo, she told CNN she “just wanted a baby.”
“I don’t care if it’s a world record or not,” she said.
“Emma is such a sweet miracle,” Benjamin Gibson said. “I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago.”
