A boy is the first Maltese baby born through in-vitro fertilisation using frozen eggs, St James Hospital said.

The healthy child was born this week, nine months after the delicate procedure to thaw the eggs and fertilise them was conducted at the private hospital.

Laboratory director Paul Sultana said the mother underwent IVF for the first time in July last year.

The procedure had failed to produce a pregnancy but two extra eggs produced during the hormone stimulation process at the time were frozen: the law only allows doctors to fertilise two eggs with any extra ones being frozen.

In November the mother underwent the second IVF process using the frozen eggs.

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