The World’s “Oldest Baby” and the Unanswerable Questions of Science
A Scientific Record that Seemed Impossible
Thaddeus was created in May 1994 during an in vitro fertilization treatment, when the technique was still in its early stages. While one of the embryos was implanted and gave life to a girl—now an adult woman—they were suspended in liquid nitrogen until a couple in Ohio decided to adopt them.
The Adoption of Embryos and its Most Controversial Side
Linda Archerd, opted for “embryo adoption” after reaching menopause and not wanting to discard them or hand them over to science. This mechanism, common in religious agencies, allows donors and recipients to choose under criteria that generate criticism for discrimination. In this case, it was required that the future parents be a Christian and married couple.
Old Science, Modern Risks
The embryos were frozen using a slow and less secure process than current vitrification. Thawing them three decades later was a technical challenge: out of the three embryos, only one survived and successfully implanted. Their success surpasses the previous record set in 2022, when…
