$2200? I'm looking into this right now! Cord blood banking was much too expensive to me, but this is more affordable.

mrsmarklewis Feb. 23, 2009 at 11:27 AM

My daughter is still too young for this, but I definitely want to look into this more. I saved her cord blood, and I just think with everything I see in the news about Obama and stem cell research, I want to have every means possible to help her in the future if she needs it. I checked out the site, it looks like it’s around $590, I think that’s equivalent to a 22 inch HD flatscreen? I’m going for the stem cells, flatscreens need to be replaced every 3 years anyway and this seems like it will last a lifetime. I don’t think these are as controversial as embryonic stem cells either, which makes me feel a little better.

vfriedman Feb. 23, 2009 at 3:47 PM

You can donate the cord blood for free to peoplewho can use it now. We donated our dd's. My neonatologist said that unless you have a very high history of childhood cancer it is just a waste of money to bank it.

ameliasmama1026 Feb. 23, 2009 at 7:55 PM

Banking your own cord blood privately is a waste of money.  Only 10-15% of cord blood actually has usable cells in it - that means more likely than not, you're paying money for damaged, unusable cells.

If you want to donate cord blood, donate publicly and help people who need it.  If your child needs help, they'll be able to get it as well.

Also, unless you prematurely clamp the cord, you can't bank cord blood anyway.

RanaAurora Feb. 25, 2009 at 2:22 AM

Awesome topic! Thanks Cafe Kristen!

Stemsave is the newest of the 2 companies I could find offering this service.  NDPL (National Dental Pulp Laboratory, Inc) is a company just like StemSave, but it seems they have been around longer, offer more services, more locations, and more information on the website.  If you are looking into this service, definately shop around: http://www.ndpl.net/

Both companies would be good choices if you want this service.  I think it is clear the service they offer is essentially the same as cord blood banks, just for teeth removed at the dentist.  Basically they send your dentist the kit, he removes the teeth and sends them to the lab.  The lab extracts the cells, grow them up, test them and freeze them.  Then you pay every year for them to keep them frozen, just like with cord blood.  This company has alot of experience freezing biological samples (or more likely they will contract out to the company with all the experience....), such as sperm, embryos, etc.  They offer a freezing service for the cells.  They do not claim to have any real treatments, now or in the future.  They don't post any examples of their cells being used (Viacord does).

It's not really that much money - it could be a reasonable investment with tax refunds or something (even the 20 year program at NDPL).  In the next 10 years there will be an explosion in the number of clinical trials using these cells.

sunmoonstars Feb. 25, 2009 at 5:49 AM

Rana - Yes, the stem cells make up an incredibly small portion of the overall cell content being extracted from the tooth (teeth).  The use a cell sorting procedure to get those cells out of the sample, then expand that population of cells for days-weeks before freezing.  Scientists have very reliable methods for cell cryopreservation.  A good quality company who maintains their labs and specifically the nitrogen tanks will not have any recovery problems.  Even better if you can find someone to do multi site storage (or you purposely use 2 companies to do this).

If anyone would like more information on Viacord or any other stem cell topic, here's my group:  All About Stem Cells

sunmoonstars Feb. 25, 2009 at 5:50 AM