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May 2012 Moms
blueshamrock7
member
Cord Blood
blueshamrock7
member
Who is considering banking your baby's cord blood? If so, which company are you considering?
--Danielle :-)
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Cord Blood
I have been thinking about it. I know it can be very expensive but my cousin didn't bank her childs and was dx'd with cancer at 6 weeks old and it could have saved his life. I have heard that another option would be to donate your childs cord blood (which is free) and if you did need it you would get first pick at a match. I have not done too much reasearch on this yet but plan to.
Parents magazine had an interesting multi-page article about it: https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-baby/cord-blood-banking/the-cord-blood-controversy/?page=1
Basically, up to 75% of samples sent to banks don't actually contain enough stem cells to be viable for future use, but private banks won't tell you that and will charge you even though there's a good chance your cord isn't even viable. I think we would consider donating to a public bank, because the cost of private banking is so high and the chances of us ever being able to use it is fairly low anyway.
My perception of banking cord blood for your family is that it's almost a scam. The chances that one of your own children would need their own cord blood is extremely low, even if they did have a disease that required a cord blood stem cell transplant.
If your child has a genetic disease or a cancer with a genetic component that requires a cord blood stem cell transplant, they need cord blood from SOMEONE ELSE, not their own that has that genetic defect.
Second, finding a stem cell donor is not like finding a bone marrow donor, which most people are more familiar with. For bone marrow, your best chance of finding a matching donor is with your siblings, and many people who can't find donors die waiting. My understanding is that if you need a cord blood stem cell transplant, it's not nearly so difficult to find a matching donor from the general population, and that the donated cord blood doesn't even need to be the same blood type as the recipient's.
Also, bone marrow transplants are still the preferred option for those needing stem cell transplants, as those receiving cord blood stem cell transplants have poorer outcomes.
If I'm wrong on any of this, someone feel free to correct me.
Thank you for your post. It is nice to get other people's opinions. Thanks also to the poster who posted the Parents article. I did not get a chance to read it, yet. We were 99.9% sure we were going to do it until I read a blurb from the American Academy of Pediatrics which recommended donating your baby's cord blood, but not banking it (for the very reason you mentioned, that the genetic diseases would not be cured by using the baby's own stem cells).
My mother died from Hodkin's Lymphoma and received two stem cell transplants from the same donor (from a public bank). In no way did she have an easy time finding a match, but she was able to find one and in the end from the public bank and they never even tested my aunts, uncles or me.
Part of me feels like 10 years from now, they may be doing other things with stem cells that I will wish I had banked my baby's. I don't know.