While I was gestating Kid #1, we got at least a dozen pamphlets from Cryo-Cell International. For a small fee, they'd store the baby's cord blood, just in case she needed it later. Yes, we ponied up the cash.
We did it for the same reason so many parents do it. You can just picture the scene in the doctor's office, where you're sitting on the edge of your seat and holding a sick, sick child in your arms. "If only," the doctor would say, his white coat gleaming under the fluorescent lights, "you weren't too cheap to store her cord blood we'd be able to save her life."
This promise to to store a number of anatomical items just in case they will be useful later is all the rage. You can have your kids' baby teeth or your liposuctioned fat or your leftover embryos or your menstrual blood (a.k.a. "your monthly miracle) frozen for future use.
But what use is there for all of this biological detritus, other than a method of separating people from their cash? That's what the New York Times' Andrew Pollack wondered, too. Based on his answers, I no longer feel guilty about not paying the storage fee on my daughter's donation.
Photo credit: Doc Advocate
