My wife and I are expecting a baby in January. As part of the preparation and research we’ve come across far too much information and we’re trying to distil the important stuff from the noise. Something that has come totally out of left field is the choice on want to do with the cord blood during and after the birth. Cord blood is valuable because it is very rich in the best kind of stem cells.
Putting aside the whole stem cell research controversy (which relates more to acquiring stem cells from a destruction of a human embryo and/or therapeutic cloning), we have a real practical choice to make. The options are:
- Do nothing - The cord blood will be discarded as medical waste.
- Donate it to a public cord blood bank - The cord blood may be used for transplants, we would have no control over it.
- Store it in a private cord blood bank - There are private companies that for about AU$3000-5000 will store the cord blood for our own exclusive use.
There seems to be a great deal of conflicting information about. Private cord blood banks are in the business of selling storage and, not surprisingly, their brochures prey on our natural fear of the unknown to sell a kind of insurance. From the information they give it’s very hard to tell exactly in what situation the cord blood would be life saving. Everyone knows that stem cell research is hot right now so they rely on unidentified future medical advances to clinch the deal.
The public cord blood bank has a different view:
“It is the opinion of the public cord blood banks that there may not be a role for this method of storage as the cord blood is unlikely to be used for transplantation for leukaemias, cancer and bone marrow failure. The stored cord blood cannot be used to treat genetic disease, as the cord blood would also be affected. The most common reason for transplantation in childhood is for leukaemia. Even if the donor developed leukaemia and required a transplant would their cord blood be used to treat themselves? The answer is ‘no’. The least successful form of transplant is from the patient’s own cord blood or bone marrow. If the leukaemia develops in early childhood, the cord blood may well contain the propensity to develop leukaemia. The most appropriate source of stem cells is from another person whether it is another family member or an anonymous stem cell donor. The chance of finding a match within your family is about 30%, the chance of finding a suitable unrelated cord blood donor is over 80%.”
— From AusCord brochure
Of course, the two parties are putting their spin on their conflicting interests. Who’s right?
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