The twins were born to Rachel Ridgway and Philip Ridgway on 31 October
Breaking the previous record, an Oregon couple has welcomed twins from embryos frozen 30 years ago in April 1992. CNN informed of, The first known record holder was Molly Gibson, who was born in 2020 from an embryo that had been frozen for nearly 27 years. The Oregon twins, dubbed “the world’s oldest babies”, were born on October 31 to Rachel Ridgeway and Philip Ridgeway.
The National Embryo Donation Center says the twins, named Lydia and Timothy Ridgway, are the longest frozen embryos to result in a live birth. While baby girl Lydia was born at 5 pounds, 11 ounces, (2.5 kg), baby boy Timothy was born at 6 pounds, 7 ounces (2.92 kg).
The children were the result of embryo donation, usually from parents who had extra embryos after successfully producing children through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Thirty years ago, an anonymous donor couple who used in vitro fertilization donated embryos that were cryopreserved at 200 degrees below zero. The embryos were frozen on April 22, 1992, and remained in cold storage at the West Coast Fertility Lab until 2007, when the couple donated them to the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC). Fifteen years later, frozen embryos resulted in the birth of Lydia and Timothy.
The Ridgeways, who already have four other children, ages 8, 6, 3 and nearly 2, decided to have more children using donated embryos. When they were looking for donors, the couple looked specifically into a category called “special consideration,” meaning embryos for which it had been difficult to find a recipient.
Mr. Rizve told CNN: “We weren’t looking to get the longest frozen embryos in the world. We just wanted the embryos that had been waiting the longest. There’s something amazing about that. In a sense, They are our eldest children, even though they are our youngest.”
“I was 5 years old when God gave life to Lydia and Timothy, and he has been preserving that life ever since,” said the happy father.
Harvard Medical School, fertility specialist Ellen S. Glazer said that there are countless IVF-created embryos whose future path has five options. The options are:
1. Embryos can be discarded
2. The couple may decide to have an additional child
3. Embryos can be donated to science
4. Embryos can be donated to another person or couple
5. Decide Not to Decide
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