World’s ‘oldest baby’ born from embryo frozen in 1994
The world’s “oldest baby” has been born in the US from an embryo that was frozen in 1994, it has been reported.Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born on 26 July in Ohio to Lindsey and Tim Pierce, using an “adopted” embryo from Linda Archerd, 62, from more than 30 years ago.In the early 1990s, Archerd and her then husband decided to try in vitro fertilisation (IVF) after struggling to become pregnant.In 1994 four embryos resulted: one was transferred to Archerd and resulted in the birth of a daughter, who is now 30 and mother to a 10-year-old.The other embryos were cryopreserved and stored.
“We didn’t go into it thinking we would break any records,” Lindsey told the MIT Technology Review, which first reported the story.“We just wanted to have a baby.”IVF is a type of fertility treatment where eggs are retrieved from a woman’s ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory setting.The resulting embryos are then transferred back into the womb.The embryos can also be frozen and stored for future use.
Archerd was awarded custody of the embryos after divorcing her husband.She then found out about embryo “adoption”, a type of embryo donation in which both donors and recipients have a say in who receives the embryos.Archerd had a preference for her embryo to be “adopted” by a white, Christian married couple, leading to the Pierces adopting the embryo.“We had a rough birth, but we’re both doing well now,” Lindsey said.“He is so chill.
We are in awe that we have this precious baby,”Archerd said: “The first thing that I noticed when Lindsey sent me his pictures is how much he looks like my daughter when she was a baby,I pulled out my baby book and compared them side by side, and there is no doubt that they are siblings,”The fertility clinic that transferred the embryo is run by John Gordon, a reproductive endocrinologist and Reformed Presbyterian who is working to reduce the number of embryos in storage,Speaking of the embryo transfer, Gordon said: “We have certain guiding principles, and they’re coming from our faith.
Every embryo deserves a chance at life and that the only embryo that cannot result in a healthy baby is the embryo not given the opportunity to be transferred into a patient.”In the UK the proportion of IVF births has increased from 1.3% in 2000 to 3.1% in 2023, the equivalent of one in 32 UK births, roughly one child in every classroom.For women aged 40 to 44, 11% of UK births were a result of IVF, up from 4% in 2000, accounting for 0.
5% of all births, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority (HFEA),In the US, about 2% of births are from IVF,
England v India: fifth men’s cricket Test, day two – as it happened
Ali Martin’s reportThe end of a pretty remarkable day at The Oval. Only 75 overs were bowled, but in that time we saw 342 runs, 16 wickets and thousands of Thorpey headbands.India, who looked a beaten team during a bruising the morning session, showed extraordinary resilience to fight back and then edge ahead in the game. They were inspired by Mohammed Siraj, who took out England’s entire middle order across two superb spells.England need something similar from Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue or Jamie Overton tomorrow morning
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Friday morning at the Oval, and the ground reverberates to a unique but not unfamiliar sound, the baritone rumble of thousands of pained groans. It was prompted by replays on the ground’s big screens of a particular kind of delivery with a very specific outcome, on this occasion bowled by Akash Deep. The ball flicked off the inside of Ben Duckett’s thigh before crashing remorselessly into, well, the next part of his anatomy that it reached, and with agonising results.The game was paused for several minutes while the pain subsided and the opener regained his composure (the blow certainly didn’t make him at all cautious, and by the end of that one over Duckett had survived a review for lbw, skipped down the track and missed completely with a wild swing, seen a leading edge drop short of gully and reverse-scooped for six).On Thursday evening a very different sound had been heard, Chris Woakes’ cries of pain after he landed awkwardly on his left shoulder having flicked a ball back from the boundary edge, close to the press box at the Vauxhall End
Tommy Freeman hands Lions major injury scare on eve of third Australia Test
Tommy Freeman has handed the British & Irish Lions a major injury doubt before their third Test against Australia. The 24-year-old winger, who has started the first two Tests, sat out the captain’s run on Friday and it is understood he is struggling with a back injury. The Lions are targeting a first clean sweep since 1927 and a first unbeaten series since 1974.On Friday the Lions were adamant that Freeman would be fit to play in Sydney, claiming his absence was down to his workload being managed. It is understood, however, that contingency plans have been drawn up that could see Huw Jones moved to the wing and Owen Farrell coming into the starting XV
Tour de France Femmes 2025: Squiban storms to another win on stage seven – as it happened
An amazing second stage win from Maëva Squiban in as many days. As Dani Rowe said on TNT Sports: “She played her cards to perfection.” Thank you for reading the live blog today and for your messages. It was a pleasure to cover today’s exciting and dramatic racing. Join me on Saturday and Sunday for the final stages of this year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift
Tour de France Femmes: Squiban sends home fans wild with second stage win
Maëva Squiban fuelled joyous scenes in the Haute-Savoie, winning the first high mountain stage of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes in Chambéry, just 24 hours after taking victory in stage six in Ambert.The French rider, who celebrated draped in a Breton flag, was part of a 13-rider breakaway that splintered on the first climb, the Côte de Saint-Franc and then gradually dwindled as the gradients started to bite.Squiban, a former French junior champion when 15 years old, finally shed her last companion, Mareille Meijering, 2km from the top of the Col du Granier and accelerated clear alone.“At the start, I made a joke about attacking again,” she said, “but in the end it wasn’t a joke.”On the fast descent of the Granier, overlooking Chambéry, Squiban, nudging 80km/h on the narrow road, again held off the pursuing group of race favourites, including the defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma and rival Demi Vollering, to take successive stage wins
Glorious Goodwood: Jm Jungle too speedy for classy King George rivals
Three of the dozen runners in the Group Two King George Stakes at Goodwood on Friday had a Group One success to their name and all but one had at least run in a Group-class contest, but there is often only a small gap for the best sprint handicappers to bridge when they step into Pattern company and Jm Jungle, the Group-race debutant, proved the point once again with a 14-1 victory in the afternoon’s feature event.The field was reduced to 11 at the start when Clarendon House planted himself in the stalls, but Jm Jungle, with winner of the “Dash” Handicap at Epsom on Derby day over the fastest five-furlong course in the country, was soon helping to set a strong pace. The Australian-trained mare, Asfoora, a Group One winner at Royal Ascot last summer, made a brief attempt to challenge against the far rail while She’s Quality finished fast down the middle, but Jm Jungle and Jason Hart had just enough left to hold on for a neck success.It was a second win in the race in the space of three years for the John and Sean Quinn stable, successful in 2023 with the hugely popular Highfield Princess.“It was easier watching Highfield Princess because she never looked like getting beat,” Sean Quinn said
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