QUOTE(DarkNite @ Dec 23 2010, 08:29 AM)
Why should I trust a site that is marketing & promoting storage of stem cells?
As mention many times, do your own research. you still hvnt answered me, where do you actually stand?
We've already passed the time where we question what can you do with your babys cord blood, stem cell treatment are very real and its no scifi movie, its already happening.
As I've told you many times, throw away your babys blood cord if you dun like the idea. Isnt it simple?
Or you may ask yourself this, why is countries like US and most of develop countries has a public blood cord banking and store all their citizens cord blood?
Malaysia has a cord blood banking but you must deliver your baby at GH, anywhere else you need to store it privately or throw it away.
A simple calculation for you to consider:
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What are the pros and cons of each?
Private Cord Blood Banking
Pros
* Umbilical cord blood is preserved at birth for future use by your family.
* Umbilical cord blood stem cells can be a life-saving treatment option. Thousands of transplants have been performed with this type of stem cell.
* The stem cells are always readily available for transplant, should they be needed by your family.
* Studies show cells should be medically viable for decades.
* Diseases requiring treatment with these stem cells are progressive, meaning the short time needed to retrieve your family's stem cells could be a life saver.
* When used for transplant, the most common complications are less likely to occur than in transplants done using bone marrow stem cells.
* No one outside of your family can decide to dispose of these cells, give them away or use them for research.
* A transplant of these cells can be made to that child, or often to a brother or sister.
* Sometimes parents have been able to receive the stem cells for a transplant. In rare cases, another relative may be able to receive them as well.
* The peace of mind provided by having the cells available is priceless.
* Ethnic minorities or ethnically mixed couples are underrepresented in public banks, meaning they would have a lesser chance of finding a suitable match should the cells be needed for transplants.
* Births involving adoptions, a sperm donor, or a surrogate mother offer only one opportunity to obtain umbilical cord blood stem cells that perfectly match the child.
* Couples who have experienced difficulty conceiving a child may not be planning to have other children, offering only one opportunity to obtain umbilical cord blood stem cells that perfectly match the child.
* Insurance may pay for associated expenses if the cells are used for transplant.
Cons
* There is a financial cost to have the cells collected, processed and stored.
Donation to a Public Cord Blood Bank, or for Research
Pros
* The stem cells could be a match to someone searching the public registries because they need a transplant.
* The cells are not discarded as medical waste, but rather used to help people.
* There is often no cost to the parents for public donation.
* Parents are sometimes able to specify that their child's donated stem cells be used only for transplant, research, or either.
Cons
* Parents have no right to use the donated stem cells.
* If the family were to need the stem cells in the future they would not necessarily be available.
* Obtaining a donated specimen from a public bank is often $35,000 or higher.
* The Board on Health Sciences Policy made a recommendation that parents considering public donation should not be given the impression that the unit will be available after donation1.
* In one survey, almost one-half of respondents said the reason they donated their cord blood to a public bank was to protect their child's future health. Unfortunately, the specimens are rarely available to family that donated them.
* Misconceptions about the collection process, the associated risks, and the availability and access of the stem cells are common among cord blood bank donors.
* Donations are often suggested after the mother has gone into labor.
* Public banks rely largely on grant funding. When grant funds lapse to pay for the collection of new stem cell specimens, the donation program is unable to accept new donations.
* Processing the specimen is more expensive for public banks, because full tissue typing must be done at the time of processing in order to be useful as an anonymous specimen to the thousands of people searching the database for a match.
This post has been edited by moorish: Dec 23 2010, 10:43 AM