After tragedy, a Greek couple welcomes a daughter born from an embryo frozen for 22 years

By DEREK GATOPOULOS

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Out of their darkest moment, a Greek couple managed to make a new start with a baby born this week. Doing so meant using one of her decades-old embryos and racing to beat a government deadline.

Just months after their 21‑year‑old son died in a road crash in October, Cristina Rapti‑Tzelepi, now 54, and her husband made the decision to pursue another attempt using an embryo frozen for 22 years.

Rapti-Tzelepi was running up against the Greek government’s 54-year age limit for women to complete in vitro fertilization procedures and secure approval from a national authority. When she started, time was already running short.

“I only had a 2½-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.”

She gave birth to a girl on Wednesday in Greek capital Athens who weighed in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces. In a hospital room brightened with pink balloons and flowers on Friday, the new parents were overcome with emotion.

“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,” Rapti-Tzelepi said, sitting on her bed in black pajamas. “My wish for her is to grow up healthy and happy, full of joy like our first child, who filled our home with laughter.”

The child was born using the woman’s embryo that had been frozen more than 22 years ago, an unusually long time for a frozen fertilized egg to be used to produce a pregnancy.

Last year, an Ohio couple welcomed a baby boy developed from an embryo frozen for more than 30 years through a process known as “ embryo adoption,” and earned recognition from Guinness World Records.

Dr. Kostas Pantos, Rapti-Tzelepi’s gynecologist and head of the Hellenic Society of Reproductive Medicine, argued that Greece’s age restrictions warrant review, noting the country’s steep birth rate decline.

“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.”

The baby’s 60-year-old father, Constantinos Raptis, held his new daughter as she slept on his shoulder, wrapped in a white bodysuit. He said that he’s deeply grateful to the doctor for restoring hope to his family.

“He took us by the hand and pulled us out of our deepest darkness,” Raptis said. “We escaped from that darkness, and I believe we have a lot to live for now.”

The couple named their daughter Georgia in honor of their late son, Giorgos, also born thanks to IVF. They haven’t ruled out trying for another child — possibly by traveling abroad.

Theodora Tongas, Lefteris Pitarakis and Thanassis Stavrakis contributed to this report.