Argumentative Essay On Saving Cord Blood

As difficult as it is to predict a potential disease a child may develop, it is also difficult to predict the success in future treatment of these or many other diseases using cord blood stem cells. The question expecting parents should ask is: “In what circumstances the parents should consider saving their own cord blood?”
Family medical history and ethnic backgrounds play a large role in whether or not to store umbilical cord blood. Since there is also a price to consider saving cord blood privately, most experts recommend that the future of the stem cells can be mostly beneficial for families with certain medical histories. Similar to a case of one young English mother, Mrs Woods, suffering with Multiple Sclerosis. She told the “The

However, the research is still at its beginning and the small amount collected, saved or recovered cannot treat large adults. Many parents when asked why they saved their cord blood say they consider it as an additional life insurance for their family, and that is where the experts disagree due to the limitations this small amount of cord blood saved offers. Parents should be also informed, that some genetic conditions couldn’t be treated with their own cord blood cells because these cells already contain these defected genes. Another aspect to consider is that saving a cord blood privately still comes with a large price tag and the question is still not answered, if this cost can be justified by the current research data and studies

To collect and to store the umbilical cord blood and tissue for a period of 10 years can come up to $30 000 dollars depending on which bank parents use for collection and storage. “There are currently 207 private cord blood banks which have been established in 54 countries, marketing services to a further 35 countries. Over one million cord blood units have been stored privately and the growth rate is estimated to be approximately 12-15% per annum. Since 2008 many private banks also collect and store cord tissue.” (Health care professionals knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to umbilical cord banking and donation) The advantage of using these private banks for collection and storage of umbilical cord blood and tissue is that the future use of these cells is available exclusively to the family if needed, and it eliminates the search for a