IVF Baby: Nashville Woman Says She's a Triplet But Sisters Are 4 Years Older

A Nashville woman in her late 20s shared a mind-blowing detail surrounding her birth as an IVF baby as she is one of three fraternal triplets with two siblings older by four years.

In a TikTok video that has been viewed more than 15 million times, Shelby said that her parents opted for IVF in the 1980s but only used half of the harvested eggs to avoid having nine babies in one pregnancy. After her sisters were born as a twin, her parents decided to have another child a few years later.

Shelby came from the second half of her parents' frozen embryos. The technology was still relatively new around this time so the doctors told her parents that they might not have another child because the eggs have been frozen too long.

Thus, Shelby said she is the miracle child who came out of that second batch of embryos, thus making her a part of the fraternal triplets, despite what the doctors said. Shelby revealed that it still gives her shivers just thinking about how she has been "frozen on the planet for four years," per Kidspot.

@maximumstrengthpepto i still get random shivers sometimes ️️ #takeaNAIRbreak #CatOnALeash #fyp #storytimevideos #birthstory #smallhands #frozen ♬ Classical Music - Classical Music

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Courtney, Becca and Shelby

In another video on TikTok, Shelby shared photos of her sisters, Courtney and Becca. However, she will always be the first to say that they do not look like triplets at all.

Some of her followers agree that the twins do not have the same face but told Shelby has some resemblance to both her sisters, except she is a few years younger. Other commenters joked that Shelby is the "chill" sister who was frozen just like the Marvel superhero Captain America.

The TikToker also said that she was born with a different birth sign than her fraternal triplets. They are both Leos while she is a Gemini. Regardless of the differences, Shelby has a strong bond with Courtney and Becca.

Her video has also opened up other sets of IVF babies who were frozen for a few years before they were born. One commenter said that she has a younger twin sister who came from the same embryos but she has not heard of a similar life story until she found Shelby's viral video on TikTok.

Frozen Eggs More Efficient than Fresh Eggs

Meanwhile, a study from the journal Fertility and Sterility showed that women who decided to freeze their eggs and then thawed or used this at a later date had a 70 percent chance of a successful pregnancy. On the other hand, women who decided not to freeze their eggs and use a fresh batch of embryos for the IVF had only a 30 percent chance of conceiving.

According to experts, egg freezing, also known as oocyte preservation, is a critical factor for women whose fertility age is on the decline. With the technology available today, women and moms are more empowered to decide on their reproductive outcomes.

For other women, freezing eggs also allow them to become their own egg donor. This will also impact their IVF outcomes in the event that they decide to have a baby years later.