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Storing stem cells, is it worth it?

My wife will be giving birth to our first child in a few weeks and among the million and one things we have to arrange one is the matter of whether we should have some of the baby’s stem cells (celulas madre) stored. We have spoken with a few doctors on the matter, and have gotten conflicting opinions on the matter, some say that at the moment the use of these cells is limited and very much in the exploratory phase, but it is to be expected that in 10 years time or more the research into use of these cells will have advanced significantly, others say that it is not worth the investment at this stage. An additional benefit to the storing of the cells now is that they can be used (albeit with reduced chances of success) to help other members of the family.

On the downside is the fact that, a) there are no guarantees of success, b) given the volume of cells that can be extracted you may get only one use of them throughout the lifetime you are paying, c) you are only paying for the storage, any use of the cells subsequently must be paid for separately, and d) it is an expensive matter (about $500.000 per annum)

I’d be interested to hear the views of any parents out there who have used or thought of using this system, or even if there are any of you who have regretted not storing these cells??

Many thanks in advance for your advice and opinions

By Noelito40 on Nov 12, 2009, 10:18 in Friendly Talkzone.

cvivaspoorbuthappy says on Nov 12, 2009, 10:52:

We did it, used http://www.redcord.net/ and I guess the benefit of having them stored would only be realized if they are needed and indeed save your child's life. Somewhat like life insurance.

The stem cell transplants work, in cases like leukemia, other types of cancer, etc.

The way I looked at it when deciding to do it was: better to have them than not. The cost is nominal to me, about $20 per month, I spend more eating sushi in the US when I am there on business, so to me it's worth it.

CV

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jimmymcc says on Nov 12, 2009, 13:49:

I saw a program on Tv the other night about this and I think it was either in Sweden or Norway, and Germany where it is now commom practice to store stem cells at birth, as the cord has the most cells, these cells cured one boy with cancer and they injected cells into a womans heart who's heart was badly damaged when she had a heart attack, This is also something single mothers should think about, how many kids grow up not knowing who their father is or where he is,

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