CLOSE Emma Wren Gibson was born Nov. 25 after the fertilized egg that became her spent more than 24 years cooled to very low temperatures in a process called cryopreservation. Buzz60 
 
 Emma Wren Gibson of Clinton, Tenn., became the oldest frozen embryo to be born. Her adopted mom, Tina Gibson, was born about a year before the egg that became Emma was fertilized. (Photo: WBIR-TV, Knoxville, Tenn., via National Embryo Donation Center) 
 
 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A 26-year-old Tennessee woman has given birth to a healthy girl born of a frozen embryo almost as old as she is. 
 
 Emma Wren Gibson was born Nov. 25 after the fertilized egg that became her spent more than 24 years cooled to very low temperatures in a process called cryopreservation. 
 
 Another couple, whose names were not released, had used in vitro fertilization and frozen the fertilized egg Oct. 14, 1992. It was thawed March 13 and implanted in Tina Gibson of Clinton, Tenn., at the National Embryo Donation Center here. 
 
 Gibson was 18 months old when the embryo was frozen. 
 
 Her daughter, Emma, now holds the record for oldest frozen embryo to be born, according to University of Tennessee Preston Medical Library staff. 
 
 ► Feb. 1: Couple overcomes 6 miscarriages and cancer to fulfill dream of having kids 
 
 ► June 2016: How to get pregnant at 50 without in vitro fertilization 
 
 ► November 2015: Couples give up frozen embryos for 'adoption' 
 
 "Emma is such a sweet miracle,” her dad, Benjamin Gibson said in a press release from the center. “I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago.” 
 
 The embryo donation center's lab director, Carol Sommerfelt, thawed the embryo. Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, an obstetrician-gynecologist affiliated with the University of Tennessee Medical Center, performed the implant. 
 
 “I will always remember what the Gibsons said when presented with the picture of their embryos at the time of transfer: ‘These embryos could have been my best friends.'” Carol Sommerfelt, National Embryo Donation Center 
 
 “I will always remember what the Gibsons said when presented with the picture of their embryos at the time of transfer: ‘These embryos could have been my best friends,’ " Sommerfelt said. Tina Gibson was age 25 when the embryos were implanted. 
 
 Sommerfelt said it is rewarding to see an embryo frozen for so long have a chance at life, especially because cryopreservation techniques have advanced since then. 
 
 The center's website lists its pregnancy rate per transfer at 57%. About 49% of the transfers result in a birth. 
 
 The National Embryo Donation Center, established in 2003, is a faith-based nonprofit that encourages couples to donate embryos after their families are complete so that other couples unable to conceive can try to have a baby. 
 
 Other options for couples with frozen embryos who don't want additional children are donating the embryos to research, thawing them and allowing them to die or keeping them frozen indefinitely, according to the center 
 
 The center stores the embryos at no charge to the donors. When a new couple decides to adopt a frozen embryo, they and the donor couple can choose a range of communication options from a totally confidential process to a fully open relationship. 
 
 ► January 2015: Tennessee couple finds family to adopt unused embryos 
 
 ► June 2014: Inquisitive Nashville teen finds her egg-donor mom 
 
 As of Tuesday, 686 babies had been born from the inventory of embryos that couples in all 50 states have donated, according to the National Embryo Donation Center's website. 
 
 "We hope this story is a clarion call to all couples who have embryos in long-term storage to consider this life-affirming option for their embryos," said Keenan, the doctor who implanted the embryos in Tina Gibson's womb. 
 
 Follow Tom Barclay on Twitter: @TomJBarclay 
 
 Emma Wren Gibson of Clinton, Tenn., who will be 1 month old on Christmas 2017, was born from a embryo frozen Oct. 14, 1992. She now holds the record for being the baby born from the oldest frozen embryo. (Photo: WBIR-TV, Knoxville, Tenn., via National Embryo Donation Center) 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2BLTvfb ||||| A Tennessee woman has given birth to a daughter who spent 24 years as a frozen embryo — making the baby the longest-frozen embryo to successfully come to birth. 
 
 Tina and Benjamin welcomed little Emma Wren on Nov. 25, according to a press release from the National Embryo Donation Center. The embryo was originally frozen in 1992, when mom Tina was just a year old. 
 
 The embryo was thawed by medical staff at the NEDC in March 2017 and transferred into Tina’s uterus earlier this year. Emma was born weighing 6 lbs., 8 oz. and measured 20 inches long. According to the release, University of Tennessee Preston Medical Library confirmed baby Emma now holds the all-time record for the longest-frozen embryo to come to birth. 
 
 “I just wanted a baby. I don’t care if it’s a world record or not,” Tina, 26, told CNN, after earlier noting that “This embryo and I could have been best friends.” 
 
 RELATED VIDEO: Sneak Peek of Family Portrait: Leanna & Jeff 
 
 “The NEDC has been privileged to work with the Gibsons to help them realize their dreams of becoming parents,” Dr. Jeffrey Keenan said of the faith-based organization. 
 
 “We hope this story is a clarion call to all couples who have embryos in long-term storage to consider this life-affirming option for their embryos.” 
 
 Embryo adoption has helped many couples become parents. 
 
 Leanna Elwell-Landry recently opened up to PEOPLE about her journey to motherhood in Family Portrait (on PeopleTV.com). After Elwell-Landry experienced struggles with infertility, she and her husband Jeff turned to embryo adoption. 
 
 “The more I read about it, the more I was like, ‘This seems like the perfect fit for us.’ Because you get to not only adopt this child but you get to carry your own child. You get to give birth to your own child. My mind was blown,” she said. ||||| New Record: East TN Woman Gives Birth to Daughter who Spent 24 Years as Frozen Embryo 
 
 Contact: Mark Mellinger, National Embryo Donation Center, 865-696-1870, mmellinger@baby4me.net 
 
 
 
 KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 19, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- A woman living in East Tennessee has delivered the longest-frozen embryo to successfully come to birth. Emma Wren was born to Benjamin and Tina Gibson on Saturday, November 25, 2017, weighing 6 lbs. 8 oz. and measuring 20 inches long. 
 
 
 
 Prior to being transferred into Tina's uterus at the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Knoxville earlier this year, Emma had been cryopreserved for more than 24 years. According to research staff at the University of Tennessee Preston Medical Library, baby Emma now holds the all-time record for the longest-frozen embryo to come to birth. 
 
 
 
 Emma was frozen on October 14, 1992 and thawed by NEDC Lab Director Carol Sommerfelt on March 13, 2017. Tina became pregnant with Emma as the result of a frozen embryo transfer (FET) performed by NEDC Medical Director Dr. Jeffrey Keenan on March 15, 2017. Tina, 26, spent her pregnancy carrying an embryo conceived just 1.5 years after her own birth. "Emma is such a sweet miracle," proud papa Benjamin said. "I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago." 
 
 
 
 "The NEDC has been privileged to work with the Gibsons to help them realize their dreams of becoming parents," said Dr. Keenan. "We hope this story is a clarion call to all couples who have embryos in long-term storage to consider this life-affirming option for their embryos." 
 
 
 
 "It is deeply moving and highly rewarding to see that embryos frozen 24.5 years ago using the old, early cryopreservation techniques of slow freezing on day one of development at the pronuclear stage can result in 100 percent survival of the embryos with a 100 percent continued proper development to the day-3 embryo stage," said Sommerfelt. "I will always remember what the Gibsons said when presented with the picture of their embryos at the time of transfer: 'These embryos could have been my best friends,' as Tina herself was only 25 at the time of transfer." 
 
 
 
 The faith-based NEDC has gained distinction as the world's leading comprehensive embryo adoption program, with more pregnancies (nearly 700) through embryo adoption than any other organization or clinic. Its dual purpose is to protect the lives and dignity of frozen embryos that would not be used by their genetic parents and to help other couples build the families they have longed for via donated embryos. Embryos have been donated to the NEDC from all 50 states and couples have traveled to Knoxville from all over the United States as well as some foreign countries for their embryo transfers. Our website is www.embryodonation.org. 
 
 
 
 For more information, or to schedule interviews, please contact Mark Mellinger at (865) 696-1870 or mmellinger@baby4me.net. 
 
 ||||| (CNN) The longest known frozen human embryo to result in a successful birth was born last month in Tennessee. 
 
 Emma Wren Gibson, delivered November 25 by Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, medical director of the National Embryo Donation Center, is the result of an embryo originally frozen on October 14, 1992. 
 
 Emma's parents, Tina and Benjamin Gibson of eastern Tennessee, admit feeling surprised when they were told the exact age of the embryo thawed March 13 by Carol Sommerfelt, embryology lab director at the National Embryo Donation Center. 
 
 "Do you realize I'm only 25? This embryo and I could have been best friends," Tina Gibson said. 
 
 Today, Tina, now 26, explained to CNN, "I just wanted a baby. I don't care if it's a world record or not." 
 
 Sommerfelt said the birth is "pretty exciting considering how long the embryos had been frozen." Previously, the oldest known frozen embryo that came to successful birth was 20 years old 
 
 Weighing 6 pounds 8 ounces and measuring 20 inches long, Emma is a healthy baby girl, and that's the only thought on her parents' minds. 
 
 "We're just so thankful and blessed. She's a precious Christmas gift from the Lord," Tina said. "We're just so grateful." 
 
 Despite not sharing genes, Benjamin, 33, said that Emma feels completely like his own child. "As soon as she came out, I fell in love with her," he said. 
 
 Emma's story begins long before the Gibsons "adopted" her (and four sibling embryos from the same egg donor). Created for in vitro fertilization by another, anonymous couple, the embryos had been left in storage so they could be used by someone unable or unwilling to conceive a child naturally. 
 
 These are "snowbabies," lingering in icy suspension, potential human lives waiting to be born. 
 
 Infertility and fostering 
 
 Seven years ago, the Gibsons married, refusing to allow a dark cloud to shadow their love. "My husband has cystic fibrosis, so infertility is common," Tina said, adding that they had found peace with it. "We had decided that we were more than likely going to adopt, and we were fine with that." 
 
 Before trying to implant an embryo, they fostered several children and enjoyed doing so. 
 
 During a break between fosters, they decided to take a week-long vacation. As they were dropping off their dog at her parents' house, Tina's father stopped them. 
 
 Benjamin and Tina Gibson with daughter Emma. 
 
 "I saw something on the news today. It's called embryo adoption, and they would implant an embryo in you, and you could carry a baby," he told his daughter. 
 
 "I was like, 'Well, that's nice, Dad, but we're not interested. We're knee-deep in foster care right now,' " Tina recalled with a laugh. "I kind of blew it off. I had no interest in it." 
 
 But during the eight-hour car trip, Tina could not stop thinking about her father's words. "It was playing in my mind over and over and over," she said. Hours into her journey, she turned to Benjamin and asked what he thought about "this embryo adoption." He too had been thinking about it "the whole time." 
 
 Tina started researching on her phone, sharing information with Benjamin as he drove. "I knew everything about it before I got off that vacation," she said. She knew, for instance, that the National Embryo Donation Center was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and could facilitate a frozen embryo transfer. 
 
 Still, she was not immediately ready. Weeks passed. 
 
 "During August of last year, I just came home one day; I looked at Benjamin, and I said, 'I think we need to submit an application for embryo adoption,' " she explained. "On a whim, we filled out an application and submitted that night." 
 
 ''It's a world record!' 
 
 By December, she was on medication to do a "mock transfer": essentially a series of medical examinations to see whether her uterus would be physically capable of receiving an implanted embryo. In January, the tests were complete, and though Tina required a small procedure to remove a polyp from her uterus, she was eligible for implantation. 
 
 Next, a home study was performed, said Mark Mellinger, marketing and development director for the National Embryo Donation Center. This part of the process, conducted by a partner organization run by a social worker, is "just the standard home study that mimics any home study that anybody would go through in a traditional adoption process." 
 
 Families who have been approved by the state generally pass the requirements set by the donation center. "Very rarely does a review find a red flag," Mellinger said. 
 
 Finally, the Gibsons were ready for the implantation procedure in March. But they had to choose an embryo, which required viewing donor "profiles" listing the basic genetic information about the genetic parents. "We literally had two weeks to go through 300 profiles," Benjamin said. 
 
 "It was overwhelming," Tina said. "There was so many, and it's like, how do you pick?" 
 
 The couple started with one small detail just to "narrow it down in an easy way," she said. Since she and Benjamin are physically small, they began by looking at profiles based on height and weight. "Then we started looking at some of the bigger things, like medical history. 
 
 "Long story short, we picked our profile," Tina said, but that embryo was not viable, so their second choice was used. 
 
 Only when they "were fixing to go for the transfer" did her doctor and Sommerfelt explain "It's a world record!" 
 
 "I didn't sign up for this," Tina said, laughing. 
 
 In fact, no one knows that it's definitely a record. 
 
 "Identifying the oldest known embryo is simply an impossibility," said Dr. Zaher Merhi, director of IVF research and development at New Hope Fertility Center, which is not involved to the Gibson case. American companies are not required to report to the government the age of an embryo used, only the outcome of the pregnancy, so "nobody has these records." 
 
 Other experts, though, cited the study on a 20-year-old frozen embryo that came to successful birth. 
 
 Sommerfelt said she had unthawed three "snowbabies," all of them adopted from the same anonymous donor. Surprisingly, all three survived. Normally, there's about a 75% survival rate when unthawing frozen embryos. 
 
 Though Keenan transferred all three to Tina, only one implanted. This is normal, since successful implantation rate "normally runs about 25% to 30%," she said. 
 
 The transfer "worked out perfect," Tina said. "It's a miracle. First time." 
 
 Problems encountered during pregnancy were due to Tina having a short cervix, which could have prevented her from successfully carrying her baby. That did not happen, and just after Thanksgiving, Tina began 20 hours of labor. All the while, Emma's heart beat normally. 
 
 "So it all just fell into place," said Tina. "It's our new normal; it's crazy to think about it." 
 
 Odds of success 
 
 Dr. Jason Barritt, laboratory director and research scientist at the Southern California Reproductive Center, said that only about "15% to 20% of the time there are additional embryos" not used in IVF. Due to the high success rates of the IVF process, which has been scientifically explored in animals for more than half a century, fewer embryos are now created. Louise Brown, the first human resulting from an IVF procedure, was born in July 1978. 
 
 "Usually, couples have leftover embryos because they have completed their families and no longer need additional embryos," Barritt said. His center was not involved in the Gibson case. "They remain frozen until the patient asks for some other disposition." 
 
 Disposition options -- what is done with the additional embryos -- include simply leaving them cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen storage tanks, disposing of them in an appropriate way, donating them to research or training for the advancement of the field of reproductive medicine, or donating them to another couple. 
 
 The final option is rare, Barritt said, "due to a variety of additional steps and guidelines that must be met," such as infectious disease screening and meeting US Food and Drug Administration donor eligibility regulations, "and significant legal documentation that must be met." 
 
 Mellinger said the National Embryo Donation Center is a faith-based organization founded in 2003. "We say that our reason for existence is to protect the sanctity and dignity of the human embryo," he said. "We are big advocates of embryo donation and embryo adoption." 
 
 If you want to donate an embryo, it will handle the details for free. 
 
 "We will contact the fertility clinic where the embryos are stored, and they are happy to work with us," Mellinger said. A special storage container is shipped, the fertility center places the embryos inside and sends it to the the donation center, and then the embryos are stored in the lab in Knoxville. 
 
 "We will adopt out an embryo whenever," he said. "Sometimes, embryos have been in storage for a few weeks, maybe a few months. Sometimes, it's literally been decades." 
 
 The adopting couple pays all the fees, amounting to less than about $12,500 for a first try, according to Mellinger. 
 
 Weighing 6 pounds 8 ounces and measuring 20 inches long, Emma is a healthy baby girl. 
 
 Recalling the birth of her special daughter, Tina's voice dissolves into tears. 
 
 "We wanted to adopt, and I don't know that that isn't going to be in our future. We may still adopt," she said. "This just ended up being the route that we took. I think that we would have been equally elated if were able to adopt. " 
 
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 Asked whether they might try again with the remaining two embryos -- Emma's sisters or brothers -- Tina said she absolutely would have said "yes" two months ago. 
 
 "But after having natural childbirth, I'm like, 'I'm never doing that again!' " she said. "But I'm sure in like a year, I'll be like, 'I want to try for another baby.' "
– A 26-year-old woman in Tennessee has given birth to a baby girl, but this otherwise everyday event comes with a remarkable twist. The embryo that resulted in the birth was frozen 24 years ago, meaning mom and baby are in one sense nearly the same age. "This embryo and I could have been best friends," Tina Gibson of Clinton tells CNN. The National Embryo Donation Center, which facilitated the procedure, says in a release that last month's birth of Emma Wren Gibson sets the record for the longest-frozen embryo becoming a baby. An anonymous couple had the embryo frozen back in 1992, when Gibson was all of 18 months old, and the NEDC thawed the fertilized egg in March and implanted it in Gibson, reports USA Today. "Emma is such a sweet miracle,” says dad Benjamin Gibson, whose cystic fibrosis made it impossible for the couple to conceive. “I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago.” She's also healthy, having been born at 6 pounds, 8 ounces, and 20 inches long, per People. The process in which the embryo remained in cool storage all these years is called cryopreservation, and the process by which the Gibsons became parents is known as embryo adoption. The procedure is probably a record, as the NEDC says, but confirmation is tricky. "Identifying the oldest known embryo is simply an impossibility," IVF expert Dr. Zaher Merhi tells CNN, because American companies aren't required to report embryos' ages.