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Need opinions on whether or not to bank baby's umbilical cord blood.
Posted on 12/02/2004 8:03:39 AM PST by elisabeth
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1
posted on
12/02/2004 8:03:39 AM PST
by
elisabeth
To: elisabeth
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.
2
posted on
12/02/2004 8:05:02 AM PST
by
Phantom Lord
(Advantages are taken, not handed out)
To: elisabeth
On the other hand, I could never forgive myself if my child needed the blood in the future and I had donated it. Could you live with yourself if someone else's baby died because you didn't donate the blood?
3
posted on
12/02/2004 8:05:38 AM PST
by
So Cal Rocket
(Proud Member: Internet Pajama Wearers for Truth)
To: elisabeth
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.
4
posted on
12/02/2004 8:07:10 AM PST
by
Rodney King
(No, we can't all just get along)
To: elisabeth
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.
5
posted on
12/02/2004 8:07:24 AM PST
by
Veto!
(Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
To: elisabeth
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).
6
posted on
12/02/2004 8:07:25 AM PST
by
asgardshill
(November 2004 - The Month That Just Kept On Giving)
To: So Cal Rocket
That's laying on the guilt a bit think.
7
posted on
12/02/2004 8:10:18 AM PST
by
Rebelbase
(Who is General Chat?)
To: elisabeth
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.
8
posted on
12/02/2004 8:10:43 AM PST
by
Veto!
(Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
To: asgardshill
The ethical problem I am worried about is that the cord blood would have a
much higher probability of being used to help a stranger than it would my own child or someone in our family. So I am thinking I should donate it hoping it would save someone else's life, knowing that I would seek a donor from a public blood bank if my child needed it.
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
9
posted on
12/02/2004 8:11:43 AM PST
by
elisabeth
To: elisabeth
All of life entails evaluating probabilities. 6 years ago my wife and I decided the probability of our son ever needing the blood is so low that the several thousand dollars' expense was not worth it. We knew there was a microcosmic possibility we would look back and regret, but the whole "if I knew then what I know now" sentiment is a fallacy and the guilt from it is a fallacy.
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.
10
posted on
12/02/2004 8:12:21 AM PST
by
Taliesan
(The power of the State to do good is the power of the State to do evil.)
To: elisabeth
1) As regards banking blood, you're betting on a very improbable event occurring. I don't know anyone who has actually benefitted from doing so; I, myself, and many people I know have had transfusions consequent to surgery without ill effect. If you are truly strapped for cash, I think it's seriously questionable whether this is a wise use of your limited funds. IMO.
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.
11
posted on
12/02/2004 8:14:03 AM PST
by
ArrogantBustard
(Western Civilisation is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
To: elisabeth
Bank it ,you can change your mind later.Right now you are not sure.
12
posted on
12/02/2004 8:14:26 AM PST
by
fatima
(Pray for our troops.I voted for tomkow6)
To: elisabeth
13
posted on
12/02/2004 8:15:00 AM PST
by
Bikers4Bush
(Flood waters rising, heading for more conservative ground. Vote for true conservatives!)
To: elisabeth
My main concern would be accepting blood from a stranger from a public blood bank. Although it is filtered, there are just so many nasty little pathogens in blood that I would have a high pucker factor needing or using it. That is why I suggested that you save it for your own family's needs the first couple of years (again, if you can even do that), then release it to public availability afterward.
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.
14
posted on
12/02/2004 8:19:47 AM PST
by
asgardshill
(November 2004 - The Month That Just Kept On Giving)
To: elisabeth
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!
15
posted on
12/02/2004 8:20:44 AM PST
by
pesto
To: elisabeth
It would be nice to have the exact DNA match for your child, but my understanding is that the advantage of cord blood stem cells is that they adapt to whatever environment you put them in. I could be wrong, but that's my understanding. At most, your child might have to take some imunosupresant if the sample was from someone else, but I don't think so. The supposed advantage of all this stem cell bruhaha is the cells can be manipulated, BY THE HUMAN BODY! The host is supposed to utilize them for repair. If the host would reject them, what's the point?
Ask a doctor.
16
posted on
12/02/2004 8:20:58 AM PST
by
chuckles
To: elisabeth
So I am thinking I should donate it hoping it would save someone else's life, knowing that I would seek a donor from a public blood bank if my child needed it.That sounds like the right answer to me.
To: asgardshill
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!
To: elisabeth
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.)
19
posted on
12/02/2004 8:25:16 AM PST
by
Nataku X
(For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?)
To: elisabeth
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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