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itsbabytime
LIF Adult
Member since 11/05 9644 total posts
Name:
Me
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Cord Blood Banking Questions...
I did not do this with my first child - my OB and all the other Dr.'s I knew talked me out of it saying that there wasn't enough research or anything to show that it is REALLY something that would be useful.
This time around my OB still said you are better off putting the $$ in a savings plan but, was less adamant about it.
My question is - Did anyone research this beyond what the cord blood companies themselves advertise? Have there been recent actual cases where this private cord blood was used and it was the only thing that could be? If so, could you provide me to links to any info that says this is actually worthwhile in practice?
Thanks so much in advance!
EDITED TO CLARIFY: I am looking for research and info not from the cord blood companies themselves or on the usefulness generally but on cases where the baby's own cord blood or that of a sibling from a private bank has actually been used. TIA!
Message edited 12/22/2009 11:07:26 AM.
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Posted 12/21/09 11:17 PM  |
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MrsYank
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Member since 4/07 3238 total posts
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Mrs. Yank
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Re: Cord Blood Banking Questions...
Sorry to crash- but I totally would. There are a lot of different companies that do it now and I don't think it was as expensive as it was when it first came out. I think it's Under 2k or something..
and God forbid something should happen the rates are VERY high for a match.
I feel so strongly about this because I have a little boy in my class who needed a bone marrow transplant; he is here today because his parents banked his brothers cord blood who was a match.
Viacord
ETA:
What is HLA matching?
HLA matching is the criteria used to determine donor and recipient compatability and generally refers to six proteins called Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) that appear on the surface of white blood cells and other tissues in the body. A transplant can only be performed if there is an adequate HLA match between donor and recipient. Although a perfect 6 out of 6 match is best, studies have shown that cord blood transplants can be successful, even when only three of six HLA match. With cord blood, the newborn immune cells are less mature than adult cells in bone marrow, and as a result, siblings have up to a 75% chance of using each other's cord blood, compared to only 25% with bone marrow.
Message edited 12/22/2009 6:49:17 AM.
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| Posted 12/22/09 6:46 AM |
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JennB
My princess <3
Member since 5/09 2473 total posts
Name:
Jenn
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Re: Cord Blood Banking Questions...
There are many more diseases that the cord blood can now be used for. I have my CBR pamphlet with me and it says...
"The odds that your child will use stem cells for currently available treatments are estimated between 1 in 200 and 1 in 400" I do remember seeing a chart somewhere that showed the increased use of cord blood cells over the last 5-10 years.
We were up in the air about it too but with the baby due this week we finally made a decision to go ahead and do it.
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| Posted 12/22/09 7:40 AM |
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shiv
Twinsanity!!
Member since 5/07 4747 total posts
Name:
Shiv
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Re: Cord Blood Banking Questions...
I don't know, I heard the chance of having a siblings cord blood being a match are not that great. BTW- it normally can't be used for the child whose cord it came from because most of the diseases they treat with it are genetic and therefore the cord blood would not be good. It's generally used for siblings. I read on babycenter that for whites the chance of finding a match through the national cord blood registry are greater, so I'm cosidering donating to a public bank.
Here's the link to what I've read about it on babycenter:
cord blood article
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| Posted 12/22/09 9:12 AM |
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kms717
St Philomena Protect My Son
Member since 2/06 2747 total posts
Name:
Kelly
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Re: Cord Blood Banking Questions...
I did research on it in regards to MS (Multiple sclerosis) because my grandmother died from it at 54 and my sister was diagnosed with it at 30. This disease causes your immune system to attack the spinal cord and brain leaving lesions on it. Research that has been done in other countries has proven that stem cell injection has been able to rebuild severed connections and people who were previously paralyzed were able to walk again. Seeing my grandmother wither away and my sister struggle with this, there was no question that I would be banking my baby's cord blood. Research is being conducted at this very minute on all sorts of diseases and we have no idea about the capabilities of stem cells in years to come. I'm not banking his blood for what can be done today, I'm doing it for what can be done tomorrow. I feel very strongly about it and suggest that everyone else do the same. It may be a lot of money now, but what price tag do you put on the health and future potential of helping your family? FYI there are payment plans and you can register for it too.
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| Posted 12/22/09 9:50 AM |
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itsbabytime
LIF Adult
Member since 11/05 9644 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: Cord Blood Banking Questions...
Thanks ladies - it is not the money I am worried about per se. I just feel that if it is not really useful the cord blood would be wasted and, the money would also be wasted.
What I am looking for is information that does NOT come from the cord blood companies or that was heard second hand. I'm wondering if there are actual cases where the child's (or a siblings) OWN cord blood - as opposed to from the public bank - had to or was able to be used by the child.
TIA!
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| Posted 12/22/09 11:01 AM |
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itsbabytime
LIF Adult
Member since 11/05 9644 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: Cord Blood Banking Questions...
Posted by kms717
I did research on it in regards to MS (Multiple sclerosis) because my grandmother died from it at 54 and my sister was diagnosed with it at 30. This disease causes your immune system to attack the spinal cord and brain leaving lesions on it. Research that has been done in other countries has proven that stem cell injection has been able to rebuild severed connections and people who were previously paralyzed were able to walk again. Seeing my grandmother wither away and my sister struggle with this, there was no question that I would be banking my baby's cord blood. Research is being conducted at this very minute on all sorts of diseases and we have no idea about the capabilities of stem cells in years to come. I'm not banking his blood for what can be done today, I'm doing it for what can be done tomorrow. I feel very strongly about it and suggest that everyone else do the same. It may be a lot of money now, but what price tag do you put on the health and future potential of helping your family? FYI there are payment plans and you can register for it too.
Yes, but can the child's OWN cord blood be used and will it even be available or able to be used then? If you donate to the public bank they guarantee you they will help you if you need it (that is what I was told) and from what i am heard usually the child's own cord blood cannot be used?
I'm just trying to separate the theoretical from what is actually being done KWIM.
Like I said it's not about the money only - I don't want to waste the cord blood either.
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| Posted 12/22/09 11:04 AM |
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mommyIam
Member since 7/09 9209 total posts
Name:
Shana
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Re: Cord Blood Banking Questions...
Posted by itsbabytime
Yes, but can the child's OWN cord blood be used and will it even be available or able to be used then? If you donate to the public bank they guarantee you they will help you if you need it (that is what I was told) and from what i am heard usually the child's own cord blood cannot be used?
I'm just trying to separate the theoretical from what is actually being done KWIM.
I know what you mean!
My OB says if you can afford it, you should absolutely privately bank it. Frankly though, I think the $400 I'll be paying her to do it, is probably worth her leaning towards privately banking.
Money just drives everything, and I hope that I can not let it drive me.
Here are my major issues with it, and what I've learned.
The major problem with public banks, is that there isn't enough diversity in them (particularly from minority groups). I never found any guarantee that you will have access to your own cord blood or anyone else's, if you see it in writing pass it on.
Its seams like ther are two schools of thought, cord blood companies, and public bank.
There a a huge push for cord blood for research, since recent legislation allowing for research in this country. In the past a lot of it was sold to foreign companies, most without the kind of money that American companies have. Publicly banking will allow your cord blood to be sold and used for research. I don't know the details of how they determine who's they are going to use, etc.
But its understandable they have to cover the cost of storing cord blood so they would have to sell some off. It really bothers me when the advocates to public banking publish something laden with statements to illicit a guilt response about how your blood goes to waste in private banks.
As for blood cord being used, In recent years, there are lot of diseases that can be cured in children from their own cord blood, there are also a lot that can be cured from others cord blood. For statistical purposes there are so few cases that have actually been put into practice, so you can make generalizations. But they are remarkable cases with complete cures. If you think about it, "cures", are almost completely unheard of in modern medicine.
When other blood is needed for diseases like leukemia, siblings and even first cousins are the best matches, like previous poster said and its a lot easier than matching blood type.
My final issue, and major issue with cord blood banking. There is no guarantee that it will last for more than 5 years, and some private companies wont even guarantee that much. They just don't know if it will go bad, but many scientists believe in theory it should last forever.
For me,
Leukemia runs in my SIL family. Leukemia is one of the first cancers they could cure with stem cells, using a siblings cord blood. She banked it for her DS, but not DD. I felt we should privately bank it just for this reason. So that we are guaranteed to have similar genes close by.
If this wasn't the case, we probably wouldn't bother privately banking, there is nothing we know to run through our families. In my family people easily live into their 90's. In DH family, level II diabetes but mild manageable cases. So for us alone, I don't think the .00001% chance we will need it, suffices for me to justify privately banking it.
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| Posted 12/22/09 1:38 PM |
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