Did you know that before the birth of the twins that currently holds the record for oldest embryo used in a successful pregnancy, that record was previously held by Molly Gibson born in 2020 from an embryo that had been frozen for nearly 27 years?

The twins named Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway from Vancouver, Washington, USA, born on 31 October 2022, were actually conceived almost three decades ago. This feat has since earned the twins the record title for the oldest embryo used in a successful pregnancy.

The embryos of the twins were created (at the time, their current mother was just three years old) for an anonymous married couple using in-vitro fertilisation, and for 15 years were kept at a fertility lab on the US West Coast, where they sat cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen at -320 degrees F (-196 degrees C).

The husband, who passed away before any of the embryos resulted in live births, was in his early 50s, and they used eggs from a 34-year-old donor. In 2007, the couple who created them selflessly made the decision to donate them to the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Knoxville, Tennessee, where they sat for another 14 years and 10 months, in hopes they would eventually bring another wishful couple happiness.

Looking to complete their family, Philip and Rachel Ridgeway visited the NEDC in hopes of adopting an embryo. They first visited the NEDC for medical clearance prior to having access to the donor database.

After being medically cleared and having the database explained, they were given a log in and picked a primary donor as well as two back up donors. The Ridgeways looked through information about the various donor parents and decided on three little embryos who had been sitting frozen for decades, although they didn’t have any photographs of the biological parents. So, the Ridgeways transferred the trio and fortunately, two implanted.

Although Rachel had gestational diabetes throughout her pregnancy with the twins, everything else went smoothly. She was also fortunate to have the support of her friends and family throughout the entire process, even having cousins who were also adopted through the NEDC.

The Ridgeways are elated that their twins hold the record title for the oldest embryo used in a successful pregnancy—a record previously held by Molly Gibson, born in 2020 from an embryo that had been frozen for nearly 27 years.

“May of 2022, Mark Mellinger from the NEDC contacted us,” said the Ridgeways. “He informed us that our twins were going to be the world’s oldest embryos once they were born.”

The Ridgeways advise any couple interested in embryo adoption to contact the NEDC. And speaking on their choice of adoption the Ridgeways said: “God's example of adoption is what inspired us to adopt. The Bible states that God created adoption before the foundations of the world and has adopted sinners to be His children."

Source: Guinness World Records

#penglobalfactfile