Baby girl born from frozen embryo... more than a decade ago

The Central Maternity Hospital has just welcomed a beautiful baby girl who cried out from an embryo that had been stored for 11 years.

Ms. VA happily welcomes her daughter at the Central Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital - Photo: Provided by the hospital.

I made a date with you 11 years ago.

In 2014, Ms. VA (born in 1988, Hanoi ) underwent in-vitro fertilization at the National Center for Reproductive Support and gave birth to her first child, a baby boy. She left the remaining embryos at the center, as a silent promise: "When I'm ready, I'll come back to pick you up."

"The doctor told me that the embryos could be safely preserved for 5 years, 10 years, or even longer. I never expected to actually come back more than 10 years later," VA said emotionally.

In January 2025, Ms. VA returned to the center. The archived records showed that all the embryos were still intact, with complete information and the same quality as when they were first deposited in the storage room.

Seeing her name and the intact embryo, Ms. VA felt both nervous and emotional, as if she were about to reunite with a long-lost child.

But she had many worries: after 11 years, were those embryos still safe? Because in her previous pregnancy, she had experienced a stressful second trimester due to low amniotic fluid. She also carried the gene for thalassemia – a factor that makes pregnancy much riskier.

"I asked the doctor if the embryos could still be used after ten years. The doctor said absolutely, and the quality would remain the same. That answer relieved me greatly," VA recalled.

At the National Center for Reproductive Support, Ms. VA was given a clear explanation of both the risks and benefits of embryo transfer. The doctors confirmed that her health indicators and embryo quality were all satisfactory.

With encouragement and support from the medical team, VA decided to proceed with the embryo transfer procedure with complete confidence.

The miracle of the first embryo transfer.

On her very first embryo transfer after 11 years, Ms. VA successfully became pregnant. This extraordinary pregnancy was closely monitored by Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Anh, Director of the Central Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, because he understood that this was not just a normal pregnancy management case – but a vivid testament to the power of modern embryo preservation technology.

"The Central Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital has successfully retrieved an embryo that had been frozen for 11 years in a cryopreservation container, thawed it, and transferred it into the mother's uterus."

The patient was initially very worried, thinking that after so many years the embryos might be damaged and unusable, and that creating new embryos at this age would be very difficult. However, the reality shows that embryos stored according to proper procedures in the cryopreservation chamber of the National Center for Reproductive Support - National Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital still maintain their quality after more than a decade.

"We used only one embryo, the transfer was successful, and the results were exactly as expected," Professor Anh said.

On the morning of August 22nd, a baby girl weighing 3.3kg let out a loud cry in the delivery room, looking incredibly healthy and rosy-cheeked. Ms. VA was overjoyed, smiling at her child. "Eleven years, you've waited for us so long. Thank you, my child, thank you to the doctors."

The baby's birth is living proof of an exceptionally impressive medical story – the journey of an embryo that lay dormant for over a decade and has now truly become a living being.

WILLOW

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/be-gai-chao-doi-tu-phoi-thai-tru-dong-hon-1-thap-nien-truoc-20250827113437758.htm