The birth of a baby after 31 years of embryo cryopreservation, documented by MIT Technology Review, once again highlights the complex bioethical dilemma posed by the hundreds of thousands of human embryos left over from in vitro fertilization techniques that remain indefinitely frozen in centers around the world. This extraordinary case, where an American couple adopted an embryo conceived in 1994 by Linda Archerd and her husband, illustrates both the technological possibilities of long-term cryopreservation and the urgent need to ethically address the fate of these living members of the human species, whose only alternative for survival given the renunciation of their biological parents is embryo adoption, a procedure that, while saving individual lives, generates debate about whether it could inadvertently perpetuate a morally questionable system of surplus embryo production.

A baby conceived 31 years ago through in vitro fertilization was born this past July in the United States, after being frozen in embryo for more than three decades. According to  MIT Technology Review , the newborn was implanted in a woman named Linsey, who, along with her husband Tim, decided to adopt him through embryo adoption.

The embryo genetically belongs to Linda Archerd and her husband, who conceived it in 1994 along with three other embryos using assisted reproduction techniques. At the time, the couple used one of the embryos to achieve a successful pregnancy, while the remaining three were cryopreserved.

Maintenance for decades

For the past 31 years, Linda Archerd and her husband shouldered the annual cost of maintaining the frozen embryos, which amounted to approximately $1,000 per year. This investment allowed the embryos to be preserved in optimal conditions until their transfer.

When the couple decided they would have no more children, Linda Archerd opted to find adoptive parents for the remaining embryos. This option is one of three options under US law for surplus embryos from assisted fertility procedures: third-party adoption, donation for scientific research, or destruction.

Background of the procedure

Embryo adoption cases, although rare, are not entirely new in the field of reproductive medicine. These types of procedures have been previously documented by the Bioethics Observatory,  although the present case is notable for the long period of cryopreservation before birth.

Bioethical assessment

The tragedy of the huge number of embryos left over from in vitro fertilization cycles that remain cryopreserved with an uncertain fate demonstrates the most worrying aspect of the spread of assisted reproduction techniques, which continue to accumulate embryos, exacerbating the problem with no solution in sight.

The long-term viability of these embryos, as previously documented, demonstrates that they are living individuals of the human species, and not simple cellular aggregates or biological remains.

The biological parents’ renunciation of their pregnancy places them in morally unacceptable circumstances, with adoption by other couples being their only chance of survival.

However, ethical reservations have been raised about this adoption, in the sense that it could somehow validate the continued production and preservation of surplus embryos, fuelling an unacceptable process.

Only a reformulation of the application of assisted reproduction techniques could help stem the plight of the hundreds of thousands of human embryos that remain cryopreserved awaiting destruction in the vast majority of cases.

Julio Tudela – Cristina Castillo. Bioethics Observatory. Institute of Life Sciences. Catholic University of Valencia