Science News Archive

Frozen Babies

Last week a healthy baby girl was born using IVF treatment. That's nothing new - but what's special about this particular kid is that she was developed from an embryo that had been frozen for 9 years, breaking the existing world record for growing a baby from a frozen embryo, which stood at 8 years ! So far doctors have not found any evidence that freezing embryos does the future babies any harm. But the concept is a little strange - does this mean that this girl is already 9 years old even though she has only just been born ?! Apparently in America there have already been custody battles over frozen embryos !
Article about 'banking' and growing stem cells for use later in life

25th May 2002