IVF Baby Born From 21-Year-Old Frozen Sperm, Ties Wo...( Charlotte new dad 38 froze sperm at 1...)

Charlotte new dad, 38, froze sperm at 16 before chemotherapy that cured his leukemia

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Fertility specialists of Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte (REACH) herald the successful birth of a baby girl March 4 who was conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) at their laboratory with sperm frozen for 21 years, which they believe 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, also in excellent health, 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 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. The 21-year span between both men's sperm cryopreservation and their daughters births rank as two of the longest periods of time for conception on medical record.