A couple in Athens welcomed a baby daughter last week after using one of the mother’s decades-old embryos – and simultaneously, beating a government deadline, reports The Associated Press.
Just months after their 21‑year‑old son died in a car crash in October, Cristina Rapti‑Tzelepi, now 54, and her husband made the decision to pursue another attempt using an embryo frozen for more than 22 years.
However, she was also up against the Greek Government’s 54-year age limit for women to complete in vitro fertilisation procedures and secure approval from a national authority.
When she started, time was already running short. “I only had a 2½-month window,” she said. “It was stressful, but with inner strength and our doctor and his whole team by our side, we got through every obstacle.”
Last Wednesday she gave birth to a daughter, who weighed in at 3.49kg.
Her embryo had been stored more than 22 years, which experts say is an unusually long time for a frozen fertilised egg to be used to produce a pregnancy.
Dr Kostas Pantos, Rapti-Tzelepi’s gynaecologist and head of the Hellenic Society of Reproductive Medicine, argued that Greece’s age restrictions warrant review, noting the country’s steep birth rate decline.
“The law is very strict: 54 plus one day is not allowed. Maybe it’s time for it to change,” said Pantos.
Last year an Ohio, US, couple welcomed a baby boy developed from an embryo frozen for more than 30 years through a process known as “embryo adoption”, earning recognition from Guinness World Records.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
US twins born from 30-year-old frozen embryos
World’s ‘oldest baby’ born from embryo frozen in 1994
Increased risk of certain cancers for children conceived from frozen embryos