Author: Laura Sanders / Source: Science News
Umbilical cords tie mother and baby together, if only for a brief spell. But the stuff inside these cords has the potential to be useful well after birth. Cells in umbilical cord blood are already being used to treat certain diseases, including leukemia and rare forms of anemia.
But for all the excitement about umbilical cord cells, in many ways, this research is still in its infancy.Parents who are optimistic about that research future and want to save these cells have two options in the United States: Public not-for-profit cord banks and private cord banks. Here, about 30 public banks rely on donations from mothers, who don’t have to pay for the donation. After delivery, blood from the umbilical cord and placenta is collected, checked for quality, entered into a registry and then put in a deep freeze. And like the blood that’s collected in blood drives, these cells become available to anyone who might need them — not just the family that donated them.
There is currently no shortage of willing donors. I was willing, but I wasn’t able to find a participating hospital and cord blood bank that could take my samples after my daughters’ births. “Public banks are not a moneymaking endeavor,” says Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University, who helps run a public cord bank in North Carolina. As such, these banks have limited resources and can’t afford to take, test and store every possible sample. Kurtzberg estimates it costs public banks between $3,000 and $5,000 to collect a single unit.
These public banks fulfill an important need, but they fly under the radar of many parents. More likely, parents will have encountered marketing messages from private banks. These banks are more easily accessed, but at a cost. Billing themselves as providing a “potentially healing resource for your family’s future,” for example, private banks mail parents-to-be cord blood collection kits to have on hand during delivery, and then store umbilical cord blood samples for exclusive use by the donating family, should a family member ever need it. The fees vary, but they can be several thousand dollars for collection, plus indefinite annual maintenance fees.
Both types of banks may make special accommodations for families who have a member likely to benefit from a cord blood transplant. Public banks will accept a sample…
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