Thaddeus Pierce, a healthy baby boy, burst into the world on July 26th, 2025 in London, Ohio. His birth represents the latest achievement in reproductive technology. Photo courtesy of Tina and Benjamin Decker He was born a little over three decades after his fertilized egg had been frozen. Doctors made the embryo in vitro using IVF in 1994. After a difficult seven-year battle with infertility, Lindsey Pierce, 35, and Tim Pierce, 34, adopted the embryo.
For Lindsey and Tim Pierce, their path to parenthood really took off when they started to learn about embryo adoption. They reached out to an agency that specializes in this process, enabling them to invite Thaddeus into their family. After one successful embryo transfer, Lindsey became pregnant, realizing their long-held dream of bringing a child into the world.
The embryo that brought little Thaddeus into the world had been frozen for more than 30 years. This monumental accomplishment serves as a testament to the profound innovations in fertility preservation and embryo cryopreservation.
“If these eggs are frozen properly and they are thawed and pass screening, they can be just as healthy as an embryo created today,” said Dr. Alok Patel, a specialist in reproductive health.
This is a different Thaddeus. His extraordinary story and his parents’ emotional odyssey are mesmerizing. Lindsey and Tim Pierce literally built a field of dreams. When approached by ABC News, these admitted outliers refused to speak on the record about their experience.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Lindsey, who is an architect, thought back on their inspiration for going through with the adoption.
“We didn’t go into this thinking about records — we just wanted to have a baby,” she said.
Many media outlets, like MIT Technology Review, have covered the story of our own Thaddeus Pierce. They document the increasing popularity of embryo adoption as families seek to conceive children without going through the onerous process associated with traditional conception.
This moment represented a new beginning for the Pierce family and a testament to the amazing possibilities of today’s reproductive science.
