Cord Blood Milestones
Umbilical cord blood was first proposed as a concept in 1983, and first successfully used in 1988 - to regenerate blood and immune cells on a six year old boy suffering from a blood disorder known as Fanconi's Anemia. The first family cord blood registry opened in 1995. In 2006, the number of successful cord blood transplants surpassed 8,000.Medical Use
We've all heard the pie-in-the-sky "one day we'll be able to treat alzheimer's" thread of conversation, but there is no guarantee that day will ever come, or that it will come during our lifetimes or during that of our children. There are currently around 75 diseases that have treatments involving cord blood, but from what I can tell they all center around one scenario:- Patient undergoes extensive chemo-therapy
- Cellular regeneration is assisted through the use of umbilical cord blood
Interestingly, wikipedia's entry on cord blood suggests that in nearly every instance, cord blood treatements are done using cells from another donor, with the vast majority of these treatments being unrelated donors. Reading sites that are obviously sponsored by industry, I see no such reference, and they infer the opposite without coming out and directly saying anything substantive. These kinds of discrepancies make me uncomfortable. Additionally, Wikipedia states that there are medical issues surrounding the use of one's own cells.
The Cost
When you read literature on cord blood collection, the only real holdback it seems you run into is the expense involved. That and the hard sell that you get even in pamphlets makes you feel like you are dealing with a used car salesman. Initially cord blood banking costs around $2000.00, with annual fees ranching from $100 to $200. Of course, these companies are willing to take prepayments for storage costs for 20 to 25 years at a time. Most of these companies will also provide financing at department store credit card rates, and have stiff cancellation fees if you change your mind. The more and more I read into the details, the more and more I feel like I really don't want to deal with these kind of people. Next thing you know, they'll be offering a Service Protection Plan or Extended Warranty for an additional fee.Alternatives
As an alternative to spending money, you can donate your baby's umbilical cord blood. Not every hospital is set up for this, but a list of hospitals that handles donations through the National Marrow Blood Donor Program is available here. At one point, I did hear rumors that many hospitals took the cord blood for their own usage if no other arrangements were made, but I don't remember where I picked up that rumor and don't have anything to substantiate it.Additionally, if your family does have a medical need to store their blood for private use, there are free programs available through the cord blood registry, through CorCell, and through the Children's Hospital of Oakland / ViaCell (this is available nationally, not just to California residents).
What will you do?
The key words to me, as I researched this article, came in the last statement above: if your family does have a medical need. I know I keep talking along the same line here, but in looking through the costs involved and the potential contracts, I get the same feeling I get at the rental car counter when they offer me the extra insurance. If my family did have a medical need, this would be covered by our insanely expensive insurance, or a free or nearly-free program would be available. Additionally, I did run into another statistic that affected my decision - genetically related cord blood treatments fail between 37 and 41 percent (depending on your source) of the time and can potentially be fatal.I can't say that my family has come to a final decision, but I am leaning towards donating the cord blood publicly - where it is likely to be used, rather than storing it for my family's private usage - or perhaps even irresponsibly doing nothing at all, which is the most commonly chosen thing to do. Hey - at least I'm honest.
Cord Blood Banking Interaction
