Back in 2017, Tina and Benjamin Gibson became the proud parents of a newborn baby who was just one year younger than her mother...But how can that be?
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This medical miracle was all due to the process ofIVF or In Vitro Fertilisation and it even broke records as the embryo used by the couple was already 25year's old.
How did this all come about?
The story started when Tina and Benjamin were struggling to have a baby and ended up seeking help from the National Embryo Donation Center.
The mission of this centre is 'to protect the lives and dignity of human embryos.'When couples go through the IVF process, there are embryos that remain which can be saved. Couples can either dispose of it, give it to research, freeze it, or donate it to couples who cannot conceive. For this case, the Gibson's were fortunate enough to receive a very special embryo.
Carol Sommerfelt, the embryology lab director, worked with the couple during the medical process. She stated that the embryo was originally frozen on 14 October 1992 which makes it about 25 years old. In the past, the oldest frozen embryo that had a successful birth was 20 years old.
A near miracle
Sommerfelt stated that she unthawed three 'snowbabies' which all shared the same anonymous donor for Tina Gibson. Statistically, there is a 75% survival rate when unthawing frozen embryos. After the embryos have successfully thawed they are implanted into the patient. The successful implant rate is normally 25%-30%. When the doctor's transferred the embryos to Tina, thankfully one successfully implanted. The couple is now blessed with a beautiful and healthy baby who weighed 2.9 kilograms and measured 50 centimetres long at birth.
Tina spoke to CNN about her miracle child stating that in another life her and her baby 'could have been friends':
Do you realize I'm only 25? This embryo and I could have been best friends.
The proud new mum, now 28, continued:
I just wanted a baby. I don't care if it's a world record or not.
