The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released a policy statement about the increasingly common practice of cord-blood banking, storing blood from a newborn’s umbilical cord in case of a future need for stem cells. The AAP does not recommend banking an infant’s cord-blood for future personal use unless there is a sibling with a known need. Instead, they suggest that parents who wish to donate the blood give it to a public cord-blood bank for anyone with a need:
The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages families to donate their newborn’s cord blood, which is normally discarded at birth, to cord blood banks (if accessible in their area) for use by other individuals in need. Storing cord blood at private banks for later personal or family use as a general “insurance policy” is discouraged. . . .
The chances of a child needing his or her own cord blood stem cells in the future are estimated to range from one in 1,000 to one in 200,000. Private cord blood banks target parents at an emotionally vulnerable time when the reality is most conditions that might be helped by cord blood stem cells already exist in the infant’s cord blood. However, the AAP does recommend private cord blood banking for parents who have an older child with a condition that could potentially benefit from transplantation, such as a genetic immunodeficiency.
That’s useful input for expectant parents who are trying to decide whether to bank cord blood. Still, this is a personal decision with no simple answer for every couple. I could see, for example, that even if the non-bio mom of a lesbian couple had a blood disease in her family, it might motivate the couple to bank the blood “just in case,” even without any known need on the biological side.
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That is useful information except that there isn’t enough information available about cord blood donation. I had so much difficulty finding information on how to accomplish a cord blood donation in my area that I was past the 24 week deadline by the time I found a way to do it. In the end, it wasn’t an option because my daughter’s cord blood was sent for diagnostic testing, but I still wish that there was more information available to expectant parents who would like to donate their baby’s cord blood.