We made a baby with 23-year-old sperm!

A “rainy day” decision has brought these proud parents untold joy.

Giddy with excitement, Peter and Barbara Dixon sat at a Sydney coffee shop willing their mobile phone to ring.

Like most couples waiting for the results of a pregnancy test, they were experiencing a roller-coaster of emotions. But unlike other would-be parents, they were also battling mammoth odds by trying to conceive a baby using sperm more than 23 years old.

“I had cancer when I was 27,” explains Peter, now 51. “I had to have radiation and in those days they would just bombard the whole body – from neck to knees for 31 days – which had the possibility of leaving me infertile.”

So on doctor’s advice, Peter supplied samples to a university before undergoing treatment. The radiation beat the cancer and, as predicted, left Peter infertile. But, healthy again, he moved on with life, not giving too much thought to his “rainy day” samples.