Private versus Public Storage of Cord Blood Stem Cells

When it comes to cord stem cells, you have a few choices to make before the birth of your baby.  Do you privately store it for possible use by your child or another family member, or do you donate it to a public bank where it can be used by someone who needs it now and has a similar tissue type?  A few things to consider when making this decision:  1) research shows that transplants of related donors are more successful than in unrelated donors, however if you child, 2) researchers believe that if your child suffers from a blood or immune disease that the genetic mutation for those diseases may already exist in the cord blood making the use of their own cord blood stem cells ineffective, 3) your child's chance of need
ing to use their own stem cells is remote, 4) cost of storing your baby's cord blood is high (around $2000-$2500 for processing and twenty year storage fees).

Using Cord Blood To Cure Diseases

Expectant parents everywhere are choosing to save the stem cells obtained from the embiical cord following the birth of their baby.   my own daughter is soon to be married and thinking about starting a family, I felt that this was a topic that I neede to investigate.  With all the contraversy surrounding other types of stem cell research, I want to get the facts on this type.  Does it cause pain or damage to the baby, how is it stored, cost of storing, and the options available to parents of children who are sick as well as parents who looking forward to the birth of a new little bundle of joy.

The great news that I want to share in this first post about cord blood is that research has shown that the stem cells found in baby's cord blood could be used to treat up to eighty different diseases including certain cancers, blood disorders, juvenile diabetes and cerebral palsy.