A 54-year-old woman in Athens has given birth after an embryo frozen for more than 22 years was transferred in December, according to her medical team.
The 3,490-gram baby was born after the embryo, which had been cryopreserved on March 17, 2004, was transferred on December 23, 2025, at a private clinic in Athens.
The medical team said 22 years, five months and 23 days elapsed between cryopreservation and birth, which it described as the longest period of embryo cryopreservation resulting in a live birth reported in the medical literature. Previous published cases involved embryos frozen for 18 years and three months in Japan and 17 years in Israel.
The team has compiled the clinical and laboratory data and plans to submit the case for publication in an international medical journal.
The woman, identified in Greek media reports as Christina Rapti-Tzelepi, had undergone embryo transfer in 2004 and gave birth to a son after her first attempt. The family’s 21-year-old son died in a traffic accident in October 2025.
