Chrysoula Papadopoulou Journalist
Christina Rapti-Tzelepi, 54 years old, gave birth today to a completely healthy baby girl at MITERA Maternity Hospital, weighing 3.490 grams, after 39,2 weeks of pregnancy, following an embryo transfer of an embryo that had been cryopreserved on March 17, 2004.
The embryo transfer took place on Christmas Eve, December 23, 2025, at GENESIS ATHENS.
International first in the preservation of autologous reproductive material that led to the birth of a child
This birth is an international first, as it is associated with the longest, internationally published cryopreservation of autologous reproductive material that has led to the birth of a child.
From cryopreservation to the present day, 22 years, 5 months and 23 days have elapsed. The previous longest internationally published duration was 18 years and 3 months in Japan and the immediately previous one in Israel which was 17 years.
According to the literature review of the scientific team of GENESIS ATHENS, no recorded case of successful pregnancy and birth following longer-term cryopreservation of embryos is found in the published and evaluated international scientific literature.
The scientific team of GENESIS ATHENS has already collected the clinical and laboratory data of the case and will submit them for publication in the international bibliography.
A significant medical development with a profound human dimension
For Christina Rapti-Tzelepi, today's birth has a special emotional meaning. In 2004, after embryo transfer, she had a healthy baby boy on her first attempt. Last October 2025, the family experienced his tragic loss in a car accident at the age of 21.
In this difficult personal situation, Christina Rapti-Tzelepi decided to utilize the embryos that remained cryopreserved from her initial treatment.
This decision was accompanied by a demanding race against time. Christina Rapti-Tselepi had to complete the required procedures in a timely manner and obtain the required license from the National Assisted Reproduction Authority, within the current age framework for assisted reproduction, which has a strict time limit of 54 years.
The case of Christina Rapti-Tzelepi highlights the possibilities of modern embryo cryopreservation, but also the need for strict adherence to the rules to go hand in hand with a meaningful assessment of each woman's particular circumstances. When a woman is faced with such a heavy personal loss, the lack of flexibility and suffocating deadlines can turn an already difficult process into an exhausting race.
Mr. Konstantinos Pantos, Christina Rapti-Tselepi's gynecologist and Secretary General of the Hellenic Society of Reproductive Medicine, stated:
"The birth of Christina Rapti-Tzelepi's daughter is a particularly important clinical and scientific development. At the same time, it is a story of endurance, love and hope, which we approach with absolute respect for the family's personal journey."
"Medicine must operate with rules and safety, but also with humanity. Each case has its own reality and institutional procedures need to be able to take it into account in a flexible manner, especially when time is not on the woman's side."
The 2025 the earth disappeared from under our feet. Our world collapsed completely and our lives were plunged into the deepest, unspeakable darkness. The loss of our 21-year-old child was a blow that froze time, a wound that bleeds and that no human being is ready to endure. When you lose your child, you feel that all meaning of existence is extinguished, that the future is canceled and fatherhood is transformed from a blessing into a title that causes only silent pain. We lived in a house where silence had become unbearable. In that absolute despair, however, where everything seemed to be over, we made a life decision, a decision that required immense courage, we decided not to surrender to death, but to reclaim the light.
In end of 2025, we made the big decision to turn to in vitro fertilization. Our attempt to implant our fertilized embryos since 2004 was not a random choice. It was a shocking circle that was closing, as it became after 22 whole years since we started our first attempt in the field of assisted reproduction. Two decades later, with the full weight of pain and age on our shoulders, we returned to the starting point. This step was a heroic act of hope.
My wife literally barely exceeded the age limits set by existing legislation. A battle with time, an anxiety over the passing days and months, about whether the law would allow us to try. Seeing its power, I feel the need to let out a cry of protest and publicly demand the immediate change of the legislative framework. It is unfair and anachronistic to introduce strict age barriers that deny the right to motherhood. Every woman, regardless of her age, as long as science guarantees her safety, has the inalienable right to right to procreation. Older women have to offer an immense, mature, conscious love and a stability that no statistic can measure. IVF in older age is not just a medical procedure; it is a triumph of life itself, proving that the human will can break biological bonds when it meets medical innovation.
This miracle, however, for us has a name, a face, and a warm heart. Dr. Konstantinos Pantos.
My doctor, there are no words in the human vocabulary capable of containing the magnitude of gratitude I feel as a father and as a husband. When everything around us was gray, when society looked at us with doubt and the time of legislation was suffocating us, you and your team at the clinic Birth of Athens You became our refuge. You opened your arms to us and offered us your top, world-class knowledge. But, most importantly, you did not stand before us only as a leading scientist. You stood as a Human Being. With a rare, shocking empathy, you looked into our eyes, understood the unbearable weight of our pain for the child we lost and decided to become our companion, fighting with us against the odds so that life would triumph.
Today, After a journey full of anguish and tears, our daughter was born and we finally hold our miracle in our arms. Our little girl came into the world and brought with her the oxygen we needed to continue breathing, returning hope and light to our home. We know very well that she will never replace the angel we lost in 2025; she will always have her own unique, eternal and indelible place in our souls and will watch over us from above. However, our daughter is a divine blessing, the warmth that drove away the cold and the continuation of our family. IVF at an older age is the ultimate triumph of life over darkness. And you, Mr. Panto, are the man who took us by the hand in our deepest darkness to lead us back to the redemption of fatherhood. We thank you from the depths of our souls.
https://peoplenews.gr/?p=25295 article source photo source Genesis of Athens
