54-year-old Greek gives birth to girl from frozen embryo 22 years ago

Uthis Wednesday at a clinic in Athens, Greece. The moment was particularly special, since the child of the woman, who was born in the aftermath of the same treatment in 2004, died in a car accident in October last year.

“For Cristina Rapti-Tzelepi, today’s birth [Wednesday] has a special emotional meaning. In 2004, after an embryo transfer, he had a healthy boy at first attempt. In October 2025, the family suffered the tragic loss of the boy in a car accident, at the age of 21”, contextualized the gynecologist Konstantinos Pantos, on social network Facebook.

The doctor added that the woman “decided to take advantage of embryos that remained cryopreserved since her initial treatment”, which implied “a race against time”.

“Christina Rapti-Tzelepi had to complete the procedures in good time and obtain the necessary authorisation from the National Assisted Reproduction Authority within the age limit in force for assisted reproduction, which has a strict period of 54 years. The case of Cristina Rapti-Tzelepi highlights the possibilities of modern embryo cryopreservation, but also the need for strict compliance with the rules to be accompanied by a substantive assessment of the specific circumstances of each woman. When a woman encounters such serious personal loss, the lack of flexibility and suffocating deadlines can transform a process already difficult in itself into an exhaustive resistance race”, the health professional considered.

Konstantinos Pantos also realized that the girl was born in Mitera maternity at 39.2 weeks of pregnancy, with a weight of 3.490 grams. The transfer of the cryopreserved embryo on 17 March 2004 took place on Christmas Eve on 23 December 2025 at the Genesis Clinic in Athens.

Birth “is associated with cryopreservation of autologous genetic material of longer duration, published internationally, which has led to the birth of a child”. The doctor stated that “since cryopreservation to this day, 22 years, 5 months and 23 days have passed”, and “the longest duration previously published internationally was 18 years and 3 months in Japan.”.

“According to the literature review of the Genesis scientific team in Athens, no successful case of pregnancy and birth with a longer period of cryopreservation of embryos is found in the published and evaluated international scientific literature”, so researchers have already collected the clinical and laboratory data of the case, which will be submitted for publication in the international literature.

“The birth of Cristina Rapti-Tselepi’s daughter is a particularly significant clinical and scientific advance. At the same time, it is a history of resilience, love and hope, to which we address with absolute respect the personal journey of the family. Medicine must work with rules and security, but also with humanity. Each case has its own reality and institutional procedures must be able to take it into account substantially and flexibly, especially when time is not on the woman’s side,” Konstantinos Pantos summarized.