A pair of twins, who were born from embryos that had been frozen for 30 years, recently celebrated their first birthday. Timothy and Lydia Ridgeway were born on October 31, 2022, to adoptive parents who were only three and five years old when the embryos were frozen in 1992. The brother and sister’s embryos were adopted by a couple in Vancouver, Washington, after their biological parents donated them to the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC). The adoptive parents used IVF to conceive the twins in 2022.
IVF is a fertility treatment that involves removing an egg from the ovaries and fertilizing it with sperm in a lab. The resulting embryo is then implanted into the woman’s uterus for development. The twins, whose embryos were frozen in April 1992, now hold the Guinness World Record for the oldest embryo used in a successful pregnancy. Molly Gibson previously held the record, being born in 2020 from an embryo frozen for nearly 27 years.
The biological parents of the twins stored their embryos at a fertility lab for 15 years before donating them to the NEDC, a facility in Knoxville, Tennessee. This donation center only allows heterosexual couples who have been married for at least three years to adopt embryos. The adoptive parents, Rachel and Philip Ridgeway, were only three and five years old when their children’s embryos were frozen.
Mr. Ridgeway, 36, expressed his amazement shortly after the twins’ birth, stating that it is mind-blowing to think that embryos frozen 30 years ago could result in the birth of their children.to expand their family through embryo adoption. They already had four children and had used fertility assistance to conceive their oldest three. Instead of undergoing more fertility treatment, they decided to adopt an embryo using the money they would have spent. However, they were surprised to find out that they had naturally conceived their fourth child. Despite this, they still wanted to continue expanding their family and visited the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in March 2022. The couple believed in having as many children as God wanted to give them. The twins’ biological father had passed away from ALS, but the adoptive parents didn’t hesitate in choosing their embryos. The Ridgeways already had six children before the twins were born, but they still wanted to continue expanding their family, which led them to visit the NEDC. Now, the twins have turned one and celebrated their first birthday with chocolate cake and balloons. Unlike most people, the Ridgeways, who are devout Catholics, made the unique decision to expand their family through embryo adoption.The Ridgeways, aged 35, have chosen to adopt embryos from NEDC’s ‘special consideration’ bank. These embryos are often overlooked because they were donated by parents with a known history of certain genetic disorders. The father of the embryos had died of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and when the NEDC informed the Ridgeways about this, they didn’t hesitate in choosing them. ALS is a fatal nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function. Although family members of people with ALS have a slightly increased risk for the disease, the overall risk is very low, and most will not develop ALS. Approximately 10 percent of all ALS cases are familial or genetic. The Ridgeways decided to look for children who had been waiting the longest because they might not be perfect. Their pediatrician has confirmed that the babies are healthy. The Ridgeways believe that everyone has potential flaws and the possibility of developing any illness or disease. Their oldest child, a nine-year-old daughter, has epilepsy and asthma, but they love her no less because of these conditions. The twins, now one year old, recently celebrated their first birthday with chocolate cake and balloons. The Ridgeways are believers in giving these embryos a chance at life.’We strongly believe that the twins deserve the opportunity to live,’ we said.
