Is Cord Blood Banking a Good Idea?
Like many expecting parents, my wife and I have been berated with mail advertising new baby products, offering discounts on purchases for the baby, magazine subscription offers, etc.
Normally, unsolicited mail takes a direct route to our trash and recycling receptacles, but the baby stuff… well that we take the time to look through it, all of it.
Maybe its because this is our first child, maybe its just because we’re paranoid, but we’re afraid that if we ignore anything baby related that crosses our paths, we might miss out on something, some tidbit of knowledge, that might make or break our attempts at parenthood.
Now we still end up throwing a lot of the stuff out. For the most part it is still just junk mail after all. One of the things we do hold on to though, are all of the ads for Cord Blood Banking. The two of us have mentioned the topic to each other as something we’d like to consider doing when the baby is born, but never had an in-depth conversation.
Since we are now two weeks away from the baby’s due date, and realistically, I could get a call at any moment that my wife has gone into labor, I felt it was time to get down to business and research the topic.
First off, the price is pretty nuts. For the two big names in private cord blood banking The Cord Blood Registry and ViaCord, initial payments average over $1,800, and then you pay a monthly fee, usually $100 or greater, every month after that for the length of your account with the bank.
Right there, cord blood banking has been placed out of reach for many families. I know it has been for us. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that because of the high cost, cord blood banking is unwise. But I felt guilty dismissing the idea right away. So I continued my research.
1:2,700, those are the reported odds that a child will need to use his or her own cord blood stem cells for treatment. The odds that a family member will need the use of the stem cells are reported to be about 1:1,400.
These numbers appear to be fairly agreed upon by all parties. Looking at them, it’s clear that there is a use for the process; that they can come in handy. But they still don’t seem to be high enough for a common adoption of the practice.
Next up, I wanted to know exactly what we’d be getting if we decided to try to scrape together the money and go through with the process. Almost all of the private cord blood banks talk about cord blood banking as a form of medical insurance. But what are they insuring against.
Wikipedia has a good list of the ailments currently being treated using cord blood stem cells. If you look you’ll see that they are all pretty damn scary. But also, for the most part they are conditions that appear in individuals where there is already a family history of the ailment. Therefore it stands to reason that someone considering banking the cord blood of their newborn should give more weight to the notion of opening a cord blood bank account if there is a family history of these disorders.
That’s not to say that if there is no family history of these conditions, you’re in the clear. Every family medical history has to start somewhere. Ever heard of something called an anomaly?
Also, whether you do or do not have a frightening family medical history, you should also keep in mind that advances in the world of medicine are happening in all the fields of study, not just cord blood. So if your child does become ill, there will, in many cases, be other treatments available to him or her.
Now I know that to most of you readers, this seems like an anti-cord blood banking article. It isn’t.
I consider cord blood banking to be a valuable asset to ensuring the healthy existence of future generations. For people who can afford the process and/or those with a medical history that may require some protecting against, banking is a great thing. I encourage you to do it if you can.
I don’t think we (my wife and I) can. The cost is a bit too much for us, and although my medical history reads like “War and Peace,” there is nothing in either of our backgrounds that points to a necessity for storing the baby’s cord blood.
That’s not to say we definitely won’t. I’m writing this post before I try to sit my wife down to discuss this matter with her in length. It may be one of those things that are so important to her, and by proxy then, to me that we find a way and do it anyway. I’ll be sure to let you all know what we decide in the end.
December 12th, 2005 at 2:22 pm
Bud - you did you homework. Very well written; great info. love you -
March 15th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
Hi, I stumbled upon this post after a search for cord blood banks. My husband and I are currently researching banks and this whole banking thing. Can I ask…what did you decide and who did you bank with? That is…if you banked. THanks!
April 25th, 2006 at 7:38 am
Good point. There are however a few other things many people should be aware of. Most know that cord blood banks collect, process, test and store the donated umbilical cord blood for the public use, taking into account the great number of people who are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases each year. Therefore, cord blood banks look after expectant mothers, informing them about the importance of their umbilical cord blood and the possibility of helping some people who suffer from terrible diseases. Nevertheless, the information and sensitizing of the population is not fully achieved as in the case of simple blood donation. Cord blood stem cell transplants are considered in order to replace blood marrow transplants. The possibility of finding the match for the patients in need increases, as in 2001 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies stated that roughly 20,000 American lives were saved through transplants of stem cells. I’ve covered some other aspects related to this topic on my website, Cord blood hub - please let me know if you find them useful.
Regards,
Michael Rad