Posted on 12/02/2004 8:03:39 AM PST by elisabeth
I would like to solicit opinions on whether I should save the umbilical cord blood of my baby-to-be, who will arrive a few months from now. I am debating between donating the blood to a public bank versus banking it for potential use for my child or another family member.
I have come to the conclusion that there is such a small probability that my baby (or someone in our family) would ever be able to use the blood that it may make more sense to donate it. On the other hand, I could never forgive myself if my child needed the blood in the future and I had donated it. A third consideration is that I myself would take advantage of donor blood if it were available, and so perhaps I should donate the blood in hopes that someone else could use it.
I would very much appreciate your opinions on the ethics of this situation, and I would like to hear what other freepers would do (or have done) in this situation, since I value everyone's opinions here!
I should also mention that donating is free or cheap, whereas private banking is about $1000-$1800 up front and about $100 a year. While we don't have tons of money, we could probably afford the collection and storage fees for private banking, although I do feel they are a bit high.
From what I have heard on these matters when our son was born is it is a waste of money for 99.99% of people.
Could you live with yourself if someone else's baby died because you didn't donate the blood?
We just had our second child, and this didn't even occur to us. Seems like the blood was just all over the floor anyway.
I'd bank it as an insurance policy, just in case. With the rapid advance of science, what may seem useless today might be extremely useful tomorrow. However, I have no clue about technicalities involved.
I don't see any ethical problems this would pose. If you can afford to do so, my opinion is bank it in your own family's name, then donate it when it becomes clear that it won't be needed (if you can even do that).
That's laying on the guilt a bit think.
And secondarily, if you have more than one child, I believe the DNA is so similar with siblings that they can obtain benefits from each other's stem cells if necessary.
I'd feel no guilt about saving it for your child. It's his or hers after all.
I am definitely looking into whether I can bank it privately, but maybe be notified by the bank if someone else was found to be a match and needed it. This may be the best solution
You can't remove all the theoretical risk from life.
Donating it for free seems like an easy call, though. We were unaware of that option.
2)A point of order. I gather from the tone of your post that you are actually pregnant. If that is the case, you are not a "mother to be", and the contents of your womb are not a "baby to be". You are a mother. The child you are carrying is a baby. Those are medical facts, which many in this society would like to deny or obfuscate for political and ideological reasons. Words mean things, and I think it important to use them correctly. End rant.
Bank it ,you can change your mind later.Right now you are not sure.
Bank it.
I am unfamiliar with the quantities of blood that are saved in this way. Is there enough to split it into two separate entities? You could donate one and save the other.
Do it, you probably have fire insurance that you'll never need, that's how my husband and I looked at it when we did it when our daughter was born. The good good thing is siblings can use the cord blood, so you only have to do it once!
Ask a doctor.
That sounds like the right answer to me.
I am fairly certain that there is only enough for one sample (i.e., it cannot be split). I totally agree that I would rather have my own blood/cells than a stranger's, but in a life-or-death situation, I'll risk getting a stranger's!
If the umbical cord can be kept for the rest of your son's life, I'd definitely bank it. My boyfriend's father died of leukemia--it is the most common adult cancer. My first boyfriend's father, OTOH, got an umbical cord donation and his leukemia was cured. (Yes, I had 2 boyfriends whose father had serious leukemia.)
I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but, having faced this question two times over the last 4 years I would pose these questions:
1. Have any of your relatives suffered from Leukemia?
2. Same for your husband?
3. Any History of other blood disorders, etc on either side?
If no, you can probably safely donate it.
If yes, you may want to discuss this very extensively with a pediatrician or other specialist before making any decisions.
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