Black Parenting : Cord Blood Banking

[phynxofkemet]

My partner and I are trying to decide on whether to bank our son's cord blood. I have mixed signals regarding this. Part of me says it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to secure him some health protection for the future. The other part of me is skeptical and paranoid about the whole thing.

Neither myself or my partner have sickle cell, but I do have a cousin that carries it, and stem cells are supposed to be able to address this disease.

I don't want to let a golden opportunity pass by because of being suspect, and hyper-vigilant; but I don't want to just buy into another medical hype.
I was watching Oprah and saw a young African male in college studying stem cell research and his excitement and his participation had me hopeful that the interests of our children may also be represented in the developing technology.

I think it's so ironic that we can either pay to have it stored, donate it or have it thrown out as "biological waste".

 

[cherryblossom]

Wow. I think that's a responsible and proactive idea.

Have you and your husband reached a decision yet?

 

[phynxofkemet]

unfortunately,

i was unable to raise the money to do this, and no one saw the value behind it except myself. There are days when I realize that it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it saddens me that I was unable to provide a wonderful gift to him right at birth. Especially since it really was just a matter of money, and I've seen us spend crazy dollars on stupid sh*t like computer accessories, cell phones, and all sorts of nonsense.

I would strongly recommend looking into it, and making the choice in favor of it for anyone having a baby. Doing it could also save the life of one of the parents or siblings!