Interview SIC News
The destination of cryopreserved embryos raises ethical and legal dilemmas. In Portugal, couples have to decide between destroying, donating or authorizing scientific research. But many cannot choose.
The story of a 30 -year -old embryo that gave rise to a US baby could have been possible in Portugal, but unlikely. Portuguese legislation imposes limits – but leaves questions to answer, as explained in interview with SIC Notícias the specialist in medically assisted reproduction Miguel Raimundo, besides raising ethical questions.
Born in July 2025, in the American state of Ohio, a baby conceived by in vitro fertilization (FIV) in May 1994. For over three decades, the embryo remained cryopreserved until he was adopted by a childless couple.
Thaddeus Daniel Pierce’s birth is now pointed out as one of the most extreme cases of frozen embryos that result in a healthy birth, it reveals o .
Until nowfrozen embryos for longer that resulted in the birth of a child were cryopreserved in the US for just over 30 years. The double transfer of embryos resulted in .
Frozen Embryos: DEstruir, just investigated egg?
They are stored in liquid nitrogen, suspended in time, often waiting for a decision that never arrives. In Portugal, oFrozen embryos can only be used if there is consensus between the two members of the couple. When this family project falls out or the legal time is exhausted, there are three possible destinations left: Destruction, donation to third parties or use for scientific research.
None of the options are simple, neither emotionally nor from the ethical or legal point of view.
A Allows you to freeze embryos created during fertility treatments.
“Embryos can be For an initial period of 3 years, with the possibility of renewal for another 3 years, through consent “.
After this time, cAs to parents do not want to use cryopreserved embryos, they may choose to give them to other couples to treat fertility or scientific research projects, with their consent.
If there is no consent to these options, embryos are thawed and eliminated. But who makes that decision?
“There are embryos that have been frozen for 15 or 20 years”
The medically reproduction specialist Miguel Raimundo says thatEmbryo islanders remain frozen in the Portuguese clinics of fertility, waiting for a decision.
“There are embryos that have been frozen for 15 or 20 years, which were not used. The couple had the children they wanted and forgot the theme, or simply do not want to make a decision,” explains the doctor.
These embryos are under the responsibility of couple who generated them and can only be used or donated with your informed consent, But many of these couples do not respond to clinics attempts to decide what to do.
“Embryo donation is not made in Portugal. couples do not allow donating to other couples, They prefer to destroy them or donate to the investigation that it donates to other couples. “
When the couple separates or one of the members dies
Another sensitive point concerns what happens when the couple who created the embryos separates or one of the elements dies.
“The woman alone cannot use the embryos. There must be authorization from both elements of the couple, or already planned, or given at the time of use. If there is no express authorization, it cannot use,” explains the doctor.
If there is no express authorization given in life, the use of embryos after the death of one of the couple’s elements is not allowed.
Anyway, Consent can be removed at any time until the embryo transfer. One of the couple members may revoke the consent until the time of the transfer. This prevents, for example, that one woman uses embryos if the other parent removes the consent even before death.
“It makes no sense to have so many frozen embryos”
The difficult emotional dimension to circumvent and the decision The use of embryos in scientific research is not easy.
“It makes no sense to have so many frozen embryos (…) ACho should have a paradigm shift to not have as many surplus embryos as it currently exists. (…) It is necessary to clarify and say that there are alternatives. “
The solution, for the expert, is more clear in the law and an early decision culture by couples who resort to assisted reproduction.
The history of the baby “with” 30 years
The embryo was generated by in vitro fertilization (FIV) in 1994, For Linda Archer and her then husband, who tried to get pregnant unsuccessfully. This treatment cycle resulted in four embryos. One of them was immediately transferred and originated the birth of the couple’s daughter, now 30 years old. The other three were kept in cryopreservation.
After the divorce, Linda Archherd got the custody of the embryos and decided to keep them frozen. For years, he refused to give them to scientific investigation or deliver them anonymously.
“It was important for me to maintain some connection. These embryos are my daughter’s brothers,” he explained to MIT Technology Review.
He paid thousands of dollars in annual storage until he found an embryo adoption agency that allowed selecting the recipients.
The choice fell on the Pierce, a Christian couple, Caucasian, married, and resident in the United States, the criteria established by Archherd based on personal preferences.
After seven years trying to have children, Lindsey and Tim Pierce continued with adoption. The embryo was transferred by Rejoice Fertility Clinic in Tennessee, whose clinical director, reproductive endocrinologist John Gordon, says:
“Each embryo deserves an opportunity in life, and the only embryo that cannot result in a healthy baby is one who does not have the opportunity to be transferred.”
The clinic, oriented by religious principles, works with the Snowflakes program, managed by the agency Nightlight Christian Adoptionsone of the few in the US specializing in embryo adoption. Beth Button, director of the program, recognizes that “More than 90% of US clinics would not have accepted embryos at this age.”
Thaddeus was born on July 26, 2025, 30 years and two months after being raised in the laboratory. Your foster mother, Lindsey, says they never aimed to break records:
Already Linda Archer has not yet met the baby personally, but says he noticed similarities:
“The first thing I noticed when Lindsey sent me the photographs was how much he looks like my daughter when I was a baby. I compared the albums and there is no doubt that they are brothers.”
