Anybody done it?

We are thinking of it, but we have to decide soon as the baby is due in the next 2-3 weeks.

If you have, how much are you paying?

3/3/2009 10:11:24 PM

You ask about wierd shit

3/3/2009 10:12:53 PM

We did not bank our son's cord blood. However, we did choose to donate his cord blood.

This sounds trite, but we make the choice using the "Leave a penny, take a penny." mentality.

And, I recommend that you read this article:

http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-baby/cord-blood-banking/the-cord-blood-controversy/

[Edited on March 3, 2009 at 10:26 PM. Reason : link]

3/3/2009 10:17:16 PM

^^he's australian

3/3/2009 10:20:15 PM

Quote :

"You ask about wierd shit"

life is weird and complex. if you never think of or have to think of weird/complex situations/decisions, then you ain't living. (in today's world... 50 years ago, it was much simpler)

^^ thanks, i will read it now. have read articles on it before, but not that one yet.

3/3/2009 10:28:56 PM

Its one of those things that if you need it, you will curse yourself for not spending the couple grand on it.

If you dont need it, just consider it an insurance policy that you never had to cash in, and consider yourself lucky.

3/3/2009 10:34:14 PM

As improbable as it is, our son was actually born with an illness that has been treated using stem cell transplantation. And I am still glad that we chose to donate our son's cord blood instead of save it for private use. Hell, even had we banked Silas's cord blood, he would have been unable to use it.

^That's what the private industry preys on. There are a lot of things that they do not tell you and that the general public does not understand from a medical stand point.

[Edited on March 3, 2009 at 10:38 PM. Reason : ^s]

3/3/2009 10:34:19 PM

OMG the gator picture, is that for real>>

3/3/2009 11:06:53 PM

tom green did in Freddy Got Fingered

3/3/2009 11:19:02 PM

i had my son's cord banked. cheap insurance policy. plus i can sell it later to the biotech industry.

$1000 plus $125/year for storage.

i use cbr, but i reserve the right to have to moved to a facility of my choice.

Quote :

"We did not bank our son's cord blood. However, we did choose to donate his cord blood. This sounds trite, but we make the choice using the "Leave a penny, take a penny." mentality."

i have a question. there are genetic defects in silas' cells that caused him to have health issues. the article you linked to brings up a good point. aren't you passing along that problem tissue to someone else?

[Edited on March 4, 2009 at 12:18 AM. Reason : d]

3/4/2009 12:10:59 AM

daddy would you like some sausage

3/4/2009 12:43:55 AM

^^ I was wondering the same thing.

3/4/2009 1:19:59 AM

that shit is all over radio/tv commercials up here

3/4/2009 1:51:31 AM

Quote :

"We did not bank our son's cord blood. However, we did choose to donate his cord blood."

That's what we did for our girl. Its free and you never know if it might help save a life.

3/4/2009 9:25:38 AM

ahhh it's there for fun, I taped it there for fun

3/4/2009 10:54:10 AM

youre disgusting

3/4/2009 11:39:09 AM

stem cells ftw. i'll probably have it done for my kids.

3/4/2009 12:31:09 PM

we DONTATED ours

3/4/2009 1:37:25 PM

Quote :

"i have a question. there are genetic defects in silas' cells that caused him to have health issues. the article you linked to brings up a good point. aren't you passing along that problem tissue to someone else?"

In a nutshell and as I understand it, no.

The long explanation is...

Silas does have a gene mutation that has caused his health problems, but his problems are not rooted in his "blood making" system. Silas does not have any T-cells because he lacks a thymus gland, but the stem cells that go on to become T-cells are there. The lack of the thymus gland and other physical anomalies are caused by his genetic mutation, but his bone marrow functions normally. Any blood product that were to come from Silas would not be "disfunctional" or "diseased" as it is in other illnesses. Silas, however, would have had to receive bone marrow from a donor with a thymus gland in order to receive mature functional T-cells.

For that reason, I don't worry that we passed a problem on to someone else. Not to mention, after having gone through a transplantation process with my son, I understand the rigorous screening process that occurs before one biological is passed from a donor to recipient.

3/4/2009 3:29:37 PM

^ To further what she said, genetic defects are not communicable. If one baby has a genetic defect, it doesn't mean that his stem cells are no good for treating another type of problem, and his problem certainly won't become the new baby's problem.

My ex-gf is a nurse for the Duke Cord Blood bank, CCBB. They do great work in helping kids with problems get treatments that they normally would never get, due mainly to the kindness of parents who decide well in advance what to do with their baby's cord blood.

It's actually a really touching thing to see all the kids that have been helped. I think it's a little selfish to keep the blood for yourself "just in case," especially when there's so many kids out there who could benefit from it if your child doesn't have any issues.

3/4/2009 7:23:50 PM

we have decided to donate ours too.

i just hope that the hospital will have the facility to be able to do it, seeing as it is in a small town. (chippenham, england)

thanks to bottombaby for that article, which helped me decide.

3/4/2009 7:38:05 PM

I'm glad to see Duke is now on board with this. We wanted to donate our son's, but got a, "Wuhhh?" from the staff. Of course, this was in the middle of the elevator fluid fiasco, so it's probably a good thing.

Thanks for making the thread - the more people who know about this, the better.

3/4/2009 8:40:58 PM

we donated Madison's cord

3/6/2009 12:24:37 PM