A Georgia couple have given birth to a 'teenage' baby after discovering the process of embryo adoption.

Nancy and Chris Weiss, both 43, spent more than two years trying to conceive before welcoming their daughter Luna into the world three months ago.

For six months, the Atlanta couple tried for a child naturally before quickly progressing onto IVF, recognizing their chances of becoming pregnant were decreased as they met in later life.

After five failed IVF attempts and a chemical pregnancy, they discovered embryo adoption – where a frozen embryo from a successful couple is implanted.

Despite having a 50 per cent success rate, Nancy fell pregnant immediately and after inquiring further about the process, she was shocked to discover hers had been frozen since February 2004.

Nancy and Chris Weiss, both 43, spent over two years trying to conceive before welcoming their daughter Luna into the world three months ago after going through embryo adoption

Baby Luna was born in December after her parents discovered embryo adoption – where a frozen embryo from a successful couple is implanted

She gave birth to adorable Luna in December and now the little one is confusing people online who can't work out how she is already a teenager.

The new parents are trying to raise awareness of embryo adoption as another option for couples to fall pregnant. It is cheaper than an egg donor and relatively unheard of.

'It still blows me away whenever I talk about it and I have to break it down into simple terms with explaining it to others,' Nancy, a fertility coach, said.

'Trying to explain IVF is hard enough, let alone telling people that our daughter had actually been frozen for 13 years.

'I had never heard of embryo adoption before then, it's not something that's overly popular, few people know about it and it's much less expensive than other treatments.

'Our embryo adoption process was under $5,000 which makes it so much more accessible to families because using an egg donor can cost up to $30,000.

'It baffled us, I had no idea how old the embryos were when we adopted them, I thought they would have been frozen for a couple of years, but she was created in February 2004.

'The success rate is 50 per cent with embryo donation, but with the first one we had transferred it worked and she became our Luna.

Nancy gave birth to Luna in December via c-section after being in labour for close to four days

After being implanted with the adopted embryo that had been frozen for 13 years, Nancy says she felt different straight away and knew she was pregnant

'Our miracle girl was frozen in time for a little over 13 years before I was able to give her a belly in which to grow into the beautiful little baby girl she is today.

'For us, we had endured the trials and tribulations of infertility for two and a half years, now talking about where she came from is just another reason why she is extra special.

HOW DOES EMBRYO DONATION WORK? Couples who go through IVF tend to have extra embryos leftover, which are frozen and stored for later use. Eventually, when families decide they don't want any more children, they have to decide what to do with the leftover frozen embryos. IVF couples have a few options for their leftover embryos: donate the embryos to research

thaw them and let them die

keep them frozen

donate them to a couple who can't conceive The National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) - which is a Christian pro-life organization - stores donated frozen embryos free of charge. The center has received over $3,900,000 in federal funding. Then, like an adoption agency, the center matches families to the right embryos. Advertisement

'We couldn't be more grateful for this gift, our little sweet pea wouldn't be here without the family that was so selfless in donating their surplus embryos.'

Nancy and Chris started trying to conceive shortly before her 40th birthday, and after six months without falling pregnant they decided to visit fertility specialists.

'We met later in life, so I knew at our age the egg and sperm quality wouldn't be as good as it could be,' he said.

'We thought IVF treatment would be our best option, so did the retrieval along with all types of medication to stimulate the production of eggs to be used to create embryos.'

They tried five times in a year and a half without success but ever-determined to become parents they never gave up – despite the toll and heartbreak negative results had on them.

'The first frozen embryo transfer was pretty devastating for both of us, you assume that IVF is going to work and knowing the science, think it will work on the first time,' Nancy said.

'It was very upsetting to go through all of that, as the hormones jostle your mind and body, and so then not to have positive results is pretty hard.

'You want it so badly by that point, so to be told you're not pregnant was difficult, but we had to keep moving forward, we never gave up.'

Nancy describes Luna as their 'miracle girl' who was frozen in time for a little over 13 years

Nancy and Chris started trying to conceive shortly before her 40th birthday. After six months without falling pregnant they decided to visit fertility specialists

The new parents are now trying to raise awareness of embryo adoption as another option for couples to fall pregnant

They kept hopeful even after a chemical pregnancy in 2016, which means she miscarried in the first two weeks prior to the foetus being detectable on scans.

'No matter what happened, I remained constantly positive, I was determined that one day I would become a mother,' Nancy said.

The pair found out about embryo donation, where embryos are donated from couples who have had a successful IVF cycle. After having their child, the IVF couple can choose to have their remaining frozen embryos destroyed, used for science or donated to other hopeful parents trying to conceive.

'Our nurse coordinator matched us with donors who had similar characteristics and were the closest match,' Nancy said.

'Everything from their physical looks to their personal and health history, including things like cancer or psychological issues.

'We had three sets to choose from and the one we went for would give us Luna.

'It's weird that our daughter was here waiting for us both. We were warned it could take up to a year for us to be matched, but it happened within three months.'

After being implanted with the adopted embryo that had been frozen for 13 years, Nancy says she felt different straight away.

'It was incredible, it was like I knew I was pregnant and just had a feeling, I woke up that morning to take the test and it came back positive,' she said.

'I told my husband "I don't know if it's real but it's positive", we were very excited and cautiously optimistic, but remained calm until we had tests done at the doctors.'

After the positive results were confirmed, Nancy had a 'blissfully wonderful' pregnancy apart from severe morning sickness for her first 14-weeks.

After the positive results were confirmed, Nancy had a 'blissfully wonderful' pregnancy apart from severe morning sickness for her first 14-weeks

After five failed IVF attempts and a chemical pregnancy, the Atlanta couple discovered embryo adoption, which is how they eventually conceived Luna

Nancy and Chris, who moved from New Jersey to Atlanta shortly before trying for a child, believe it was almost 'fate' that they conceived

She was in labour for close to four days but after hearing her Luna cry for the first-time, she said it all became worth it as she was finally a mother.

'I was in labour from Wednesday night to Sunday morning and wanted a natural waterbirth, but after developing a fever I had to have a C-section,' she said.

'I was told that babies born through C-section are quiet, but not to be afraid or worried if I didn't hear her make any noise. But Luna came out crying, it was like angels singing and the best sound I have ever heard.

'There's something about birth that erases all of the struggles, we had been trying for two and a half years to fall pregnant and finally had our daughter.'

Nancy and Chris, who moved from New Jersey to Atlanta shortly before trying for a child, believe it was almost 'fate' that they conceived.

She said: 'We moved down here for a better quality of life and our little Luna was waiting for us here, it was like it was all meant to be.

'I always focused on being happy and nurturing myself instead of consuming myself with doubts that it would never happen for us. It was hard work but I credit it for giving me unshakable faith.

'When you are dealing with fertility issues, I think it's about layering everything from healthy eating and taking the proper supplements but above all practicing and developing a positive mindset.

'If you don't believe you're going to be a mom, it can just get further and further away from you.

'Once you start to focus on being loving yourself and life regardless of being pregnant, it helps you follow a path that will lead to success no matter how that baby comes into your life.'