Tenn. woman gives birth to baby from 24-year-old embryo

Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A Tennessee woman gave birth to a baby via an embryo that had been frozen for 26 years -- the oldest-known embryo to result in a live birth.

Emma Wren was born to Benjamin Gibson and Tina Gibson on Nov. 25. But she had been conceived and then frozen October 14, 1992, making the embryo 24 years old -- 4 years older than the previously oldest known embryo to result in a successful birth.

"I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago," Benjamin Gibson said in a news release from the National Embryo Donation Center, which helped facilitate the pregnancy.

The Gibsons didn't plan on setting a new world record. The couple couldn't conceive children on their own because Benjamin Gibson has cystic fibrosis. After years of fostering children, they applied for an embryo pregnancy. After getting accepted, they searched through profiles and chose an embryo based on their preferred physical characteristics and medical history, which led them to Emma Wren.

It's not known for sure whether Emma Wren is the oldest frozen embryo to be brought to birth because U.S. companies are not required to report embryo ages to the government.

"Identifying the oldest known embryo is simply an impossibility," Dr. Zaher Merhi, director of in vitro fertilization research and development at New Hope Fertility Center, which is not involved to the Gibson case, told CNN, "nobody has these records."

"Identifying the oldest-known embryo is simply an impossibility," Merhi said.

Dr. David Adamson, CEO of Arc Fertility in San Jose, Calif., said if Emma Wren isn't the oldest embryo, she's pretty close.

"I'm not personally aware of a medical report where an older embryo has resulted in a live birth," Adamson told NBC News.