Umbilical ‘insurance’
Parents see cord blood storage as biological backstop plan
By Vinnee Tong
Associated Press
NEW YORK – Frances Verter’s first child, Shai, died of cancer before reaching her fifth birthday. When her second and third children were born, Verter decided to collect and store the blood from their umbilical cords, an option increasingly being presented to expecting parents around the nation.
“I decided to bank the cord blood because I knew it could be used for transplants and had experienced firsthand how hard it can be to find a matching donor,” Verter wrote on a Web site that she runs as a guide for parents.
Cord blood is a rich source of stem cells, the building blocks that produce blood and can be transformed into other cell types. The growing number of parents who bank their children’s cord blood believe it is biological insurance.
“I didn’t expect to have another child with cancer, but I wanted to give my children every possible form of health insurance,” wrote Verter, who lives near Brookeville, Md.
Cord blood banks, particularly private ones that allow parents to store it for family members, are a growing industry, hoping to take advantage of legislation to promote cord blood donations. There are now 10 states that have passed laws either encouraging or mandating that physicians inform parents of the option. Another 12 are expected to consider legislation this year.
But public health officials argue the chances that a child or family member will need the blood is minuscule. Instead, they encourage prospective parents to donate cord blood to public banks to make it available to all patients who need it.
So far, more parents have chosen the private banks, which have gathered cord blood from about 500,000 children, according to a spokeswoman for an industry trade group, the Association of Family Cord Blood Banks.
The network of public banks is estimated to have stored more than 250,000 cord blood samples. Public banking has been hindered because it can only be done at select hospitals, mostly in larger metropolitan areas.
The percentage of parents who now opt to store cord blood is estimated to be between 3 percent to 5 percent, leaving a vast untapped population. Given the 4 million births a year in the United States, industry leaders estimate about half those parents have the money and knowledge to understand the benefits of storing cord blood.
“Our biggest competitor is the garbage can,” said Stephen Grant, executive vice president and co-founder of Cord Blood Registry.
Companies charge an initial fee ranging from $1,000 to $2,000, to collect the blood but their revenue comes largely from storage fees that range from $100 to $150 a year.
Medical researchers examining the potential uses of stem cells have fueled much excitement among doctors and the general public. Clinical trials are being conducted for such ailments as diabetes, cardiac repair and nerve regeneration, Grant said.
Public health officials, though, have emphasized the low probability of most families ever needing the cord blood.
The American Academy of Pediatrics statement estimated the chances of a child needing cord blood between one in 1,000 and one in 200,000 and noted the risk that the blood could carry the disease already being treated.
