In July 2025, Lindsey and Tim Pierce of Ohio became parents to a healthy son, Thaddeus Daniel Pierce, conceived from an embryo that had been cryogenically frozen for 11,148 days (over 30 years). This achievement shattered the previous record for longest embryo storage leading to a live birth. The embryo was originally created by Linda Archerd in 1994 during her IVF treatment; one of Archerd’s four embryos became her daughter, while the remaining three were frozen and stored. After Archerd had her first child and later decided not to discard the others, she partnered with the Snowflakes embryo adoption program (Nightlight Christian Adoptions), eventually matching her embryos with the Pierces in late 2024. Two embryos were transferred into Lindsey Pierce’s uterus, and one implanted successfully, leading to baby Thaddeus’s birth on July 26, 2025 in Ohio.
Record-Setting Embryo Preservation
Cryopreservation at ultra-low temperatures (liquid nitrogen, –196°C) has long been used to preserve IVF embryos. In this case, careful long-term storage allowed an embryo to remain viable for over three decades. According to Dr. John Gordon, who oversaw the transfer, Thaddeus’s embryo survived 11,148 days in storage—far surpassing the previous record of 10,905 days (30 years). Experts note that duration alone does not inherently harm an embryo: as long as proper freezing and thawing protocols are followed, even very old embryos can remain healthy. In fact, medical reports confirm that Thaddeus was delivered full-term and both he and his mother recovered well, consistent with studies showing no added risk from extended cryostorage.
Embryo Adoption Process
The journey from IVF lab to nursery involved several key steps:
- Original IVF cycle (1994): Linda Archerd’s 1994 IVF treatment produced four viable embryos. She used one embryo in that cycle (later birthing a daughter) and froze the other three. Over the next decades Archerd paid to store them, feeling they “deserved to live” but unsure of their future.
- Choosing embryo adoption: By 2023 Archerd sought a path for her unused embryos. She elected embryo adoption through Nightlight Christian Adoptions’ Snowflakes program. This Christian-based program allows donors to specify preferences (e.g. religion, ethnicity) and maintain some contact with the adoptive family. Archerd requested a married, Caucasian Christian couple from the U.S. to adopt her embryos.
- Matching with the Pierces (2024): Lindsey and Tim Pierce, a couple in Ohio who had struggled with infertility for seven years, applied to Snowflakes and were matched with Archerd’s embryos in late 2024. Both families sought an open and faith-aligned adoption. “We didn’t go into it thinking we would break any records — we just wanted to have a baby,” Lindsey Pierce later said.
- Thawing and transfer (Nov 2024): The embryos were shipped to Rejoice Fertility Clinic in Tennessee (founded by Dr. Gordon to help use stored embryos). Three embryos survived thawing; two were transferred to Lindsey Pierce’s uterus. A single embryo implanted and grew into a fetus. Thaddeus was born on July 26, 2025, healthy and on schedule, to the delight of both families.
Medical Perspectives and Safety
Fertility specialists emphasize that long-term cryopreservation does not inherently damage embryos. Modern freezing methods (vitrification, ultra-low temperatures) preserve cell integrity so well that age in storage is not the limiting factor – quality of cryostorage is. In Thaddeus’s case, experts explicitly noted that “long-term freezing does not damage embryo viability” when done correctly. Indeed, he was born healthy and there are no indications of problems attributable to the embryo’s age. Lindsey Pierce underwent a relatively standard IVF procedure and, despite a difficult labor, both mother and baby recovered and are reportedly doing well.
Behind Thaddeus’s case is a larger context: an estimated 1.5 million embryos are frozen in storage across the U.S.. Only a small fraction of IVF conceptions involve donated embryos. Each embryo donation or adoption case, especially record-breaking ones, raises awareness that embryos stored decades ago can still result in normal, healthy births. As Snowflakes vice-president Elizabeth Button observed, such success stories “affirm that frozen embryos do not have a ‘shelf life’… all are deserving of the opportunity to be born”.
Ethical and Legal Considerations
Thaddeus’s birth touches on ongoing ethical debates over the status of embryos. In 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court controversially ruled that frozen IVF embryos should be considered legal “children,” giving them rights under the law. This decision created uncertainty about disposal of unused embryos, prompting some states to shield clinics temporarily. In most of the U.S., however, embryos remain legally treated as property of the genetic parents, who decide their fate (discard, donate to research, or donate for adoption).
Embryo adoption agencies – often faith-based – treat each embryo as a potential life. They emphasize donors’ rights to choose recipients and the chance for post-adoption contact. (In this case, Archerd and the Pierces remain connected.) Many ethicists note that while these adoption programs provide new family opportunities, cases like Thaddeus’s also highlight questions about the large “inventory” of cryopreserved embryos worldwide. Should donors be encouraged to donate unused embryos earlier? How should society balance potential life, parental intent, and medical practice? Thaddeus’s story spotlights these issues, even as it offers hope to those valuing embryo life.
Significance for Fertility Science
Thaddeus’s arrival is a landmark for reproductive medicine. It provides concrete evidence that embryos can remain viable far longer than previously confirmed, boosting confidence in embryo banking for fertility preservation. Clinics and patients may now more readily trust that embryos frozen in youth (e.g. cancer patients preserving fertility) could be used successfully many years later. As one doctor explained, this case proves “embryos can remain viable even after decades, making long-term cryopreservation a realistic and safe strategy”.
Additionally, the case underlines the growing role of embryo donation programs. With millions of embryos in storage, stories like Thaddeus’s encourage both donors and adoptive parents by illustrating real outcomes. Researchers and clinicians will likely study the protocols that ensured this embryo’s survival, seeking optimized thaw and transfer techniques. Meanwhile, social scientists and ethicists will continue exploring policy frameworks for embryo disposition, given the emotional, ethical, and legal complexities highlighted here.
In sum, the birth of Thaddeus Daniel Pierce represents both a scientific milestone and a human triumph. It shows that advances in IVF and cryopreservation can fulfill long-held hopes: embryos frozen decades ago may one day become beloved children, giving new life to families and prompting deeper reflection on assisted reproduction’s possibilities and responsibilities.