This First Time Mom Just Gave Birth to a 24-Year-Old Baby. (No, Really.)

photo: Pexels

This baby is only one year younger than her mom. Seriously. Umm, kind of. Emma Gibson’s conception date was in 1992. But here’s the thing — she wasn’t born until 2017. And no, this isn’t some sort of Enquire-ish story about how her mother was pregnant for decades. So how could baby Emma have been conceived in 1992, but not born until 24 years later? Oh, and did we mention that her mom, Tina Gibson, was only 25 when she gave birth?

Emma was a frozen embryo. So technically she was “conceived” in 1992. The embryo was then frozen and donated to a faith-based clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee that specializes in this type of donation and adoption.

The embryo was frozen on October 14, 1992 and not thawed until March 13, 2016. That makes Emma possibly the oldest embryo to be thawed and successfully used. Tina Gibson and her husband Benjamin adopted their “snowbaby” along with four sibling embryos after struggling with infertility.

Benjamin has cystic fibrosis, and the couple knew that infertility was a very real possibility. That didn’t stop the couple from becoming parents any way they could. They fostered several children, and later decided (at the suggestion of Tina’s dad) to try for a baby through embryo adoption.

Even though Emma is thought to be a record breaker when it comes to frozen and thawed embryos, records on exact freezing dates aren’t always exact. This means that there may be older frozen embryos out there (or older embryos that have been successfully used) that weren’t dated. In any case, Emma is a very special little girl — whether she’s the oldest embryo or not.

What do you think about having a baby who is only technically one year younger than you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.