An overjoyed Greek couple has welcomed a daughter using a decades-old frozen embryo after enduring unthinkable heartache.
Cristina Rapti-Tzelepi, 54, and her husband, Constantinos Raptis, 60, decided to have another child following the devastation of their 21-year-old son, Giorgos, dying in a car crash in October.
Pursuing a fresh start, they raced to beat a government deadline, since, in Greece, the legal age limit for women completing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures is 54 years and 0 days at the time of embryo transfer.
Up against the clock, the couple had to secure approval from a national authority, as when they started the process, they were already short on time.
‘I only had a two-month window,’ she said. ‘It was stressful, but with inner strength and our doctor and his whole team by our side, we got through every obstacle.’
Rapti-Tzelepi gave birth in Athens on Wednesday to a daughter weighing 7lbs 11oz, welcoming her baby girl in a hospital room decorated with pink balloons and flowers.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
‘We decided to give life a second chance, to make a new start, bring new life into our home, and keep our family’s story going,’ an emotional Rapti-Tzelepi said after the birth.
She added that her wish is for her daughter to ‘grow up healthy and happy, full of joy’, just like their first child, whom she said ‘filled [their] home with laughter’.
Named Georgia, in tribute to their late son, the newborn slept soundly on her father’s shoulder, wrapped in a white bodysuit, as he spoke of his gratitude for their doctor, three days after her arrival.
‘He took us by the hand and pulled us out of our deepest darkness.
‘We escaped from that darkness, and I believe we have a lot to live for now.’
He and his wife haven’t ruled out expanding their family again in the future, either, as they are considering travelling abroad.
The girl was born using the woman’s embryo frozen more than 22 years ago.
Theoretically, embryos can be frozen and stored indefinitely. In the UK, legal storage limits go up to 55 years, provided written consent is renewed every 10 years.
Still, 22 years is an unusually long time for a frozen fertilised egg to successfully produce a pregnancy.
Other instances have seen babies born from embryos stored for up to 30 years, like last year in Ohio, when a couple welcomed a son, Thaddeus Daniel Pierce, from an embryo frozen three decades earlier through a process known as ’embryo adoption’.
Parents Lindsey and Tim Pierce were recognised by Guinness World Records under ‘the oldest known frozen embryo to result in a successful live birth’.
Dr Kostas Pantos, Rapti-Tzelepi’s gynaecologist and head of the Hellenic Society of Reproductive Medicine, argued that Greece’s age restrictions need reviewing.
‘The law is very strict: 54 plus one day is not allowed. Maybe it’s time for it to change,’ said Pantos, a native of Melbourne, Australia. ‘I think it’s a right (parents) should not be deprived of.’
Greece changed the law in July 2022, increasing the age limit from 50.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Comment now
Comments
Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google
Add as preferred source