It is possible for babies to be born from embryos that have been frozen. The embryos are typically created using in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

  • Embryos can be frozen for medical, social, or genetic reasons. For instance, someone undergoing cancer treatment may freeze their embryos to preserve their fertility. Other people freeze embryos to delay pregnancy or test them for genetic disorders.
  • The first baby born from a frozen embryo was Zoe Leyland, born in Melbourne in 1984.
  • There have been several notable cases of babies born from embryos that were frozen for a long time.
    • Molly Gibson was born in 2020 from an embryo frozen in 1992.
    • Emma Wren Gibson was born in 2017 from an embryo frozen in 1992. This is the longest an embryo has been frozen before leading to a live birth.
    • Twins Timothy and Lydia Ridgeway were born in 2022 from embryos frozen in 1992. Their embryos were created for an anonymous couple and donated to the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in 2007. The Ridgeways found the embryos in the NEDC’s donor database.
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