First baby born from ''fast-frozen'' embryo

Ian and Rebecca Bloomer attended the IVF clinic at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. In August last year, the hospital began using a new technology to freeze unused embryos through "vitrification".

This method, offered to the Bloomers, gave the embryos a better chance of surviving the freeze so they would be available again as soon as the couple were ready to try again.

Mrs Bloomer fell pregnant almost immediately using one of these embryos and became the proud mother of a healthy baby girl on July 23.

The couple, from Cwmbran, South Wales, had wanted a baby since they married in 2001. But tests revealed that Mrs Bloomer, 28, had endometriosis, a condition which was making it difficult for her to conceive.

Mrs Bloomer said: "We were willing to try anything really, we'd both always wanted children.

"It's overwhelming. I'm still staring at her now thinking 'wow, she's ours - it's actually happened for us.'"

Lyndon Miles, head of embryology and andrology for IVF Wales, said: "The first published study on babies born from vitrification shows no adverse effects of the technique and there are no implications to Evie's health as a result of the vitrification process."