Topics: Parenting, US News, World News, Life, Real Life, Pregnancy, Tyla Exclusive
The parents of the 'world's oldest baby' have revealed how they will tell him about his record-breaking birth, after the family's story gripped the planet earlier this month.
For those who aren't familiar, Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born in the US on 26 July to parents Lindsey, 35, and Tim Pierce, 34, who live in Ohio.
However, he is no ordinary baby and was actually conceived all the way back in 1994, making him technically 30 years old - as his mum said, it's 'like something from a sci-fi movie'.
Thaddeus came from a batch of fertilised embryos originating from donor Linda Archerd, 62, who called them her 'three little hopes' and kept them tucked away frozen in storage for decades with the hopes of having another baby in the future.
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However, after splitting from her partner and reaching the menopause, she decided to donate them to a programme for hard to match embryos, after being turned away from other clinics who wouldn't take them due to their age.
Lindsey and Tim, who had been trying to have a baby for seven years before turning to embryo adoption, were matched with Linda by the Open Hearts program, which is run by the Nightlight Christian Adoptions agency.
And after a successful transfer in November 2024, Lindsey gave birth to baby Thaddeus last month and the new parents are still 'in awe'.
The discussion of embryo adoption raised ethical questions, with some Christian couples seeing the process as a solution to the issue of the embryos 'wasted' during IVF procedures, while others took issue with the selective criteria some recipients must meet to qualify.
Now, speaking to Tyla just weeks after welcoming the little one into the world, the couple have opened up on how they plan to tell Thaddeus about his headline-making birth.
Father Tim explained: "We've already talked about all of this. We're in an open adoption with Linda, so we're in contact, talking with her back and forth through email, and at one point, yes, he will meet Linda."
The parents revealed they want to tell Thaddeus about his unique circumstances as soon as he's old enough to understand.
Tim continued: "The idea of sharing that - we want to start as young as he could even comprehend, like bring it down to a lower understanding level of how we can convey it to him when he's a toddler or when he's in preschool and telling him how he was conceived and came to our family."
Lindsey and Tim explained how at the Rejoice Fertility Clinic, where they did the transfer, there are children's books that explain the process of embryo adoption in a way that little ones can easily understand, and they have already put some on their baby registry.
The dad said one way he might break the news would be: "We were unable to have children and that family had more children, and they just wanted to gift your embryo over to us."
Lindsey joked: "And then we'll throw in, by the way, you were made in 1994 so you broke a record."
The new parents added that they're going to 'print off and save' some of the news articles to show Thaddeus just how famous he was when he's old enough.
The newborn baby also has a 30-year-old sister and a 10-year-old niece, who he will meet when he's old enough to travel across the country.
Talking about how they actually made the decision to choose Linda's batch of embryos, the couple emotionally said they believed it was 'divine intervention' and meant to be.
They outlined a series of similarities between the two families, as well as Tim having a gut feeling that he just knew the transfer would work.
Lindsey recalled: "That was definitely overwhelming. That's why they give you lots of time to think about it too. We read Linda's profile and we just thought she had so many things in common with our family.
"Her story was very similar to our story and to our families. And we just saw all these little connections that we thought. We feel like this is divine intervention. Yeah, we're supposed to be together."
Tim added: "Yeah, there's no coincidence in this. It didn't take long for us to decide it was just a thought of, wow, things are just popping up.
"You would assume it's just a coincidence but as Lindsey said, we just thought, oh, it's divine intervention. These guys, their family, is so similar to ours, we should just say yes. And we did."
He continued: "Linda's hair colour, she looks look very similar to Lindsey's mom, the fertility process and all that stuff was very similar as well, and her daughter has brown hair, just like Lindsey."
Lindsey added that Linda raised her daughter by herself, and they both came from single mother families.
Lindsey and Tim's message to other parents who are struggling with fertility is simply not to give up hope, even if it's 'not the way you think it should look'.
The new mother said: "For other families that are struggling to have their own children, to not give up hope. There's always hope. It may not look like the way you think it should look, but there's hope."
They also revealed their plan to have more babies via embryo adoption as they already have two more from another family waiting for them.
Lindsey shared: "We have two more that are frozen in storage right now from another family. So they're tucked away just waiting for us and Thaddeus to get a little bigger so he can be a good big brother."
The family have since set up a fundraiser to pay for the medical and care expenses for his birth - you can donate here.
