US woman, 26, gives birth to baby girl from embryo frozen in 1992

A US woman has given birth to a healthy baby girl from an embryo that was frozen in 1992, in what doctors are describing as a "world record".

Emma Wren Gibson was born to Tennessee couple Tina and Benjamin Gibson after they opted to “adopt” a baby from donated eggs.

The couple only learned that the embryo had been frozen almost two and a half decades ago after it had been implanted into Mrs Gibson.

Doctors believe it could be the longest frozen embryo to result in a successful birth, but the claim is impossible to verify due to the way embryo records are kept in the US.

Mrs Gibson, who is now 26, told CNN: “I was like wow, if this embryo had been born when it was supposed to have been, I was like ‘we could have been best friends, I'm only 25’.”

The couple, who married seven years ago, decided to look at embryo adoption as Mr Gibson, 33, has Cystic Fibrosis, which causes infertility in the majority of male sufferers.

Initially they began fostering children, but began considering adopting via an embryo when Mrs Gibson’s father suggested the process to them after hearing about it on the news.

In August last year the couple began to seriously look into the process and Mrs Gibson said she sent the application form one night “on a whim”.

After undergoing a series of tests and gaining state approval for the adoption they were set for the implantation procedure for March, but first they had to settle on a donor. Mr and Mrs Gibson had two weeks to read through the profiles of 300 donor couples to decide on a match.

The pair, who are physically slight, started narrowing the list down by looking at the profiles' weight and height and then moving onto medical histories.

The couple’s first choice donor was not a viable match so they moved onto their second choice. Three eggs, which came from an anonymous donor, were the transferred to Mrs Gibson and one implanted, resulting in her pregnancy.

It was only then that doctors informed them that they had made a potentially record-breaking selection.

Mrs Gibson said: “They were like 'well, this is world record' and I just looked at them and was like 'what?' and they were like 'yeah, it's been frozen for 24 and a half years'. I was like 'are you kidding?’”

However as US regulations stipulate that companies only have to report the outcome of the pregnancy of embryos they use and not the age, the record cannot be verified.

Emma’s genetic parents donated the eggs, which were left over from an in vitro fertilisation process, and had them cryogenically frozen on 14 October 1992.

Around 20 per cent of in vitro fertilisations result in leftover eggs leaving couples involved with three options: They can have them disposed of, donated for research or donated to another couple.

Eggs donated to other couples can wait in frozen suspension for years before being chosen and are colloquially known as “snow babies”.

Emma Wren was delivered on 25 November by Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, the medical director of the National Embryo Donation Centre, in Knoxville, and weighed 6lb 7oz.  

Mrs Gibson said: "24-and-a-half years ago God knew she was going to be part of our family and I tear up thinking about it as she is just such a blessing.”