CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A unique procedure allowed a Chula Vista couple to adopt their daughter, 10News reported.

Finding silence in Karen and Ken Bates' Chula Vista home can be a challenge, but the sweet sound of a child playing is a dream come true for the couple.

"She's so happy ... she's just an amazing child," said Karen Bates.

The Bates' fairy tale did not come easy as they tried to conceive for several months.

"We kind of given up hope that I would be able to carry a child," said Karen Bates.

Their hope was restored after hearing about Snowflake adoptions, where couples adopt a frozen embryo.

"Take a pencil and draw eight concentric circles; that's what she looked like in a microscope, that's the way we got her," said Ken Bates.

Doctors planted the embryo in Karen's womb. She carried the baby to full term and gave birth to Elizabeth. Doctors said there is no way to tell that she was frozen for several years before she was born.

"She's so full of life. I always say she was frozen for so long she came out of the womb saying, 'Watch out world, here I come," said Karen Bates.

Through the process of in vitro fertilization, Elizabeth's biological parents produced many embryos, with the unused embryos frozen.

The parents had three options: dispose of the remaining embryos, donate them to science or put them up for adoption. The parents chose the third option, and the biological parents and adoptive parents had to mutually agree on the adoption. It's up to both sides to decide whether to meet or remain anonymous.

"We gave Elizabeth a chance at life which she may have not gotten otherwise, and that is huge; you can't put a price tag on that," said Karen Bates.

Nightlight Christian Adoptions is the agency that pioneered the process, and they said more than 3,000 Snowflake babies have been born.

The Bates said Elizabeth was the best decision of their lives.

There is much debate to Snowflake adoption, as some believe the embryos should be used for stem cell research.

But with an estimated 500,000 preserved embryos in storage, there soon could be a blizzard of babies born through embryo adoption.

The cost of a Snowflake adoption is about $12,000 to $16,000, depending on how many embryo transfers are done.