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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Charlotte group says it has tied the world record for the longest frozen sperm used to create a baby.
Fertility specialists of Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte (REACH) announced the birth of a baby girl conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) at their lab with sperm frozen for 21 years. The group believes this ties the world record for the longest-frozen sperm used to create a baby with IVF.
Chris Biblis, 38, of Charlotte, was treated for leukemia from age 13 to 18. In 1987, at 16, his family encouraged him to freeze his sperm, even though there was no treatment for male infertility at the time.
It was not until that 1992 the first baby was born from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a breakthrough fertility technology in which scientists inject a carefully selected healthy sperm cell into a human egg in the lab.
Biblis is now in remission, having been clinically disease-free for more than 20 years. In May 2008, he and his wife, Melodie Biblis, 33, sought fertility treatment with REACH founder and fertility specialist Dr. Richard L. Wing.
"They achieved pregnancy on their first cycle of intracytoplasmic sperm injection used in conjunction with IVF, a now-routine procedure for male infertility, using her eggs and his frozen sperm," Wing said. "We had every reason to expect a perfect baby but are thrilled nonetheless," he said.
Baby Stella Biblis was born in excellent health March 4, 2009.
Biblis shares cyropreservation history with New Yorker Ken Decker, whose daughter Madison was born in August 2008 from sperm Decker froze before undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease when he was 24.