A baby boy born to an Ohio couple has broken the world record for the longest-preserved embryo to result in a live birth. Thaddeus Daniel Pierce arrived on 26 July after developing from an embryo frozen since May 1994—about 30.5 years, or 11,148 days—surpassing the previous 30-year record set by twins delivered in 2022. Thaddeus’s parents, Lindsey and Tim Pierce, adopted the embryo through Snowflakes, the embryo-adoption arm of Nightlight Christian Adoptions, after seven years of infertility. The embryo was one of four created by donor Linda Archerd in 1994; two were transferred to Lindsey’s uterus at Rejoice Fertility in Knoxville last November, and one implanted successfully. Rejoice, which says it accepts embryos regardless of age, used older slow-freeze cryopreservation, making the successful thaw and implantation technically notable. Embryo adoption remains rare, representing a fraction of the roughly 2 % of U.S. births that involve in-vitro fertilization, yet an estimated 1.5 million frozen embryos are stored nationwide. The birth comes amid renewed scrutiny of embryo disposition, including a 2024 Alabama Supreme Court decision that granted embryos the legal status of children, leaving clinics and families navigating complex ethical and legal terrain.