Whether to save the cord blood for all your children or not is a common discussion among parents who already saved their first baby’s cord blood with a private cord blood stem cell bank.
One reason why many parents choose to save the cord blood for all their children is to make sure that each child will have access to the full advantages of having their own stem cells stored because it is 100% match to each child.
According to Parents Guide to Cord Blood Foundation, “Two full siblings have a 25% chance of being a perfect match, a 50% chance of being a half match, and a 25% chance of not matching at all. The more siblings with banked cord blood, the more chance that they cover each other for possible transplants or other therapies for which sibling stem cells are accepted.”
Over 35,000 cord blood transplants have been reported over the years, both for patients who have been treated with their own cord blood and for patients who received their sibling’s cord blood.
Just a few months ago (June 2013), a 2-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who suffered a cardiac arrest has been successfully treated with his own stored umbilical cord blood stem cells. Read more about this story >>
While in October 1988, Matthew Farrow, a 5-year-old boy suffering from Fanconi anemia, received her newborn sister’s umbilical cord blood, thus marking the world’s first cord blood transplant. Matt is now 33 years old, a husband and father, who is alive and doing well today. Read more about this story >>
It is indeed a challenge to decide whether to save the cord blood for all your children or not. Thinking about your main purpose to save the cord blood is the key to coming up with a fair decision.
If you want all your children to have an available perfect cord blood match in the unlikely event that they may need it in the future, then you may want to save the cord blood privately for long-term.