Baby Born From Embryo Frozen For 20 Years

12.10.2010 [15:48]
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Baku, October 12 (AZERTAC). A healthy baby boy was born from an embryo frozen for almost 20 years in what was hailed Sunday as scientific breakthrough that could allow women to start families much later in life.

The infant`s mother, who is 42, underwent infertility treatment for 10 years before she was given the embryo last year. She gave birth to a baby boy in May this year.

News of the birth, reported in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility, comes as British lawmakers extend the period that embryos can be stored for up to 55 years.

The baby boy was born from a batch of five embryos frozen in 1990 in the U.S. by a couple who no longer needed them after they conceived their own child through IVF treatment.

That means the two children are siblings although born 20 years apart.

The woman`s doctor, Sergio Oehninger, director of the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine at the Eastern Virginia medical school said, "She has been going through treatment for a long time. She was a patient here in 2000. She was a persistent lady."

The previous record was a baby boy born to a Spanish woman after having been frozen as an embryo for 13 years.

The success story gives hope to single women who want to postpone having children until they find a suitable partner or women who want to delay conceiving for health reasons. Critics argue the techniques could lead to an increase in elderly mothers.

Baby Born From Embryo Frozen For 20 Years

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