Why the birth of the ‘world’s oldest baby’ raises serious ethical questions

The birth of the 'world's oldest baby' in Ohio this weekend has unexpectedly raised some thorny moral dilemmas, and people are completely split.

Named Thaddeus Daniel Pierce, the newborn was welcomed by delighted parents Lindsey and Tim Pierce, who had been trying to conceive for seven years with no joy.

But that all changed last Saturday (26 July), with Lindsey saying: "We had a rough birth but we are both doing well now. He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby!"

To make matters even more bizarre, Tim and Lindsey were toddlers when Thaddeus was conceived. The baby's sister is only five years younger than Lindsey.

But how is all this possible?

Well, the story behind Thaddeus' birth starts all the way back in 1994, when he was one of four embryos conceived by Linda Archerd, 62, and her now ex-husband - one of which became their now 30-year-old daughter.

Lindsay and Tim Pierce gave birth to the 'world's oldest baby' (Lindsey and Tim Pierce/Rejoice Fertility Clinic)

Following the split from her husband, Linda paid thousands of dollars for the embryos to remain in storage with the hope of becoming a mother once more, but once the menopause started she realised she had some decisions to make.

What is embryo adoption?

Embryo adoption is when instead of undergoing IVF with their own egg and sperm, a couple 'adopt' the embryos of another woman.

Most of the embryo adoption agencies have religious links, where it is believed that the embryo is a human life and is regarded in the same way as adopting a baby, toddler or teenager.

During the IVF process, extra embryos are often created in case more than one round of treatment is needed.

This can leave many embryos left over, which are then stored in case the couple want to use them again for another child.

Linda contacted multiple embryo adoption agencies, but because the embryos had been frozen for so long, many agencies would not take them.

Many organisations cited difficulties with thawing them out as the process by which embryos are frozen has changed so much over the years, with advancements in science and technology.

She eventually came across the Snowflakes programme run by the Nightlight Christian Adoptions agency, who were willing to accept the embryos after she managed to track down her medical records from a long-retired doctor.

Linda was allowed to state her preferences for who could adopt her embryos, and she stated she wanted a married, Christian, white couple based in the US as she did not want to travel outside of the country.

She was eventually paired with Lindsey and Tim, and despite the embryos being frozen for more than 30 years, the transplant was successful with one of the two embryos resulting in the birth of Thaddeus.

He has gone into the record books as the 'oldest' baby, as the success rate of births using older embryos is low due to the egg quality and the knowledge and methods required to thaw and transfer them.

Why embryo adoption raises ethical dilemmas

Many are questioning the ethics of storing frozen embryos for a long time (Getty Stock Images)

Many are questioning whether embryo adoption should be encouraged more, rather than couples going through IVF themselves when they have difficulty conceiving.

In 2016, the BBC reported that there were more than 600,000 embryos being stored in the US, with an estimated one in 10 available for embryo donation.

It raises an ethical question for couples who don't want to have additional children, should the embryos remain frozen or discarded, or given up for adoption?

For couples who believe life begins at conception, it causes a difficult problem.

For those struggling to conceive, they also need to weigh up whether they should go through IVF, adding to the number of embryos which are stored, or turn to embryo adoption instead from a donor?

Jennifer Wilson, who adopted an embryo with her husband Aaron, told the BBC: "We're Christian and we're very pro-life so we thought, 'Oh my goodness, this is a great way of putting our pro-life beliefs into action by giving these frozen babies a chance to be born.

Many couples are faced with a decision whether to undergo IVF or adoption (Getty Stock Images)

Aaron said: "We believe the Bible has several passages that speak to the fact that life begins at fertilisation.

"For us, you take something like IVF, which typically produces a lot of embryos - we view that as a lot of children. Our concern, as Christians, is how do we respond to that, how do we care for this life?"

On February 16, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling which stated that embryos generated through IVF should be considered to have the same rights as children.

Limits on who can adopt an embryo

Other questions are raised because many of the charities only allow married, straight couples to adopt embryos, and do not allow single mothers or gay couples to adopt.

Barbara Collura is the head of Resolve, the National Infertility Association. She does not believe it is right that limits are put in place to say who can adopt: "I do not think that here in the US we should be allowing these organisations to make these decisions about who can become a parent and who can't."

Dr Owen Davis is the president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) questions the wording used around these frozen embryos: "Terminology is very important, these frozen embryos could not possibly survive outside the body. Their cells have not differentiated, not become a foetus, and certainly not gestated and delivered."

In the UK, frozen eggs, sperm and embryos can be stores for a maximum of 55 years, while in Sweden the limit is 10 years.

In Australia, embryos can be kept for five years, but in the US there is no time limit for how long eggs and embryos can be stored for.

It is a situation with no easy answer, where religion and science clash.