Remove ‘unscientific’ egg freezing limit, charities say, after baby born from embryo frozen in 1992

Not yet two months old, Molly Gibson has already set a record

Credit: NATIONAL EMBRYO DONATION CENTER

The time limit applied to embryo freezing in the UK has been branded "outdated and unscientific" after a baby was born from a 27-year-old frozen embryo in the United States.  

Molly Gibson’s birth is believed to have set a new record for the longest time between embryo-freezing and birth, after she was born in October from a donated embryo frozen in 1992.  

Her parents, Tina and Ben Gibson from Knoxville, Tennessee, welcomed their first child Emma in 2017, whose embryo was also donated and frozen on the same day as Molly’s.  

The couple, who are devout Christians, had struggled to conceive before learning about embryo adoption.  

The process is often seen as more acceptable to those who believe life begins at conception, as vitro fertilisation (IVF) often creates spare embryos which can be discarded.  

The UK currently has a 10-year storage limit for frozen gametes and embryos, set out in law under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.  

Once the 10-year period is up a woman must decide whether she is ready to become a mother, or have her eggs destroyed.  

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The Department of Health and Social Care launched a consultation into the limit earlier this year, which can only be extended for medical reasons and premature infertility.

The Government is now considering the responses.  

But charities and organisations representing women’s reproductive rights said the news of Molly’s birth underlines the “outdated and unscientific” rule.  

Professor Adam Balen, Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Surgery and spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said her birth was “wonderful news” and urged the Government to change the law and extend the limit.  

Sarah Norcross, director of fertility charity Progress Educational Trust, said: “The news that a healthy baby has been born from an embryo that was frozen 27 years ago underlines how outdated and unscientific the current 10-year storage limit for eggs frozen for non-medical (social) reasons is.  

“It’s time for the Government to change this arbitrary law which damages women’s chances of becoming biological mothers and limits their reproductive choices.”