A couple in Ohio has welcomed a healthy baby boy born from an embryo that had been frozen for more than three decades, in what is now considered the longest-known time between embryo freezing and a successful live birth.

Lindsey Pierce, 35, and her husband Tim, 34, received their son, Thaddeus Daniel Pierce, on Saturday. Speaking to MIT Technology Review, Lindsey said her family found the experience surreal, describing it as something that felt “like something from a sci-fi movie.”

The embryo used for the birth had been frozen in 1994, making it 30 years old at the time of implantation. The previous known record involved twins born in 2022 from embryos that had been in storage since 1992.

The couple had struggled for seven years to conceive before they chose to adopt the embryo, which had been created through IVF by Linda Archerd, now 62, and her then-husband in 1994.

Out of four embryos created at the time, one became Archerd’s daughter, now 30 years old, while the remaining three remained in frozen storage.

Although she later separated from her husband, Archerd chose not to discard the embryos, donate them anonymously or offer them for research.

Instead, she opted to remain involved, citing the biological connection the child would share with her daughter.

Archerd continued to pay thousands of dollars annually for the embryos’ storage until she eventually connected with Nightlight Christian Adoptions, a Christian-based embryo adoption agency that runs a programme known as Snowflakes.

Through the programme, donors are able to select potential adoptive families based on various preferences, including religion, race and nationality.

“I didn’t want to go out of the country,” Archerd explained, adding that she preferred to match with a married Caucasian Christian couple living in the US.

This led her to the Pierces, who met her criteria. The embryo transfer was carried out at Rejoice Fertility, an IVF clinic in Tennessee, which has a policy of transferring embryos regardless of their age or storage history.

Lindsey said the couple never aimed to break records. “We just wanted to have a baby,” she said.