On Blood...
I will admit that this Christmas season has been somewhat of a challenge. You may remember that my wife and I are going to be spending this Christmas apart from family due to her limited ability to travel. Some very kind friends of our have allowed for our intrusion into their holiday planning however, and I for one am thankful for that. However, I also feel a little self-inflicted pressure to make this Christmas as special as I can for my wife while staying in our budget. This is no easy task, I assure you…
…but even if I was made of money, I don’t think that this would be on my list.
I’m thinking…I don’t know, maybe Halloween on that one. Certainly not Valentines Day, nor an Anniversary of any kind. Blood just never seems to be on my short list of presents for Christmas.
In seriousness though, anyone who gets pregnant these days will probably face the Cord Blood question from their OB/GYN. It’s usually one of the little glossy pamphlets they give you and is promptly ignored by the husband and fretted over by the wife. I had never even heard of it before my wife informed me that we had another decision to make. My first thought was – “They can do that. Excellent.”, which was followed by – “They want how much for it? Bogus.” (Yes, I do often think about major life decisions in my Bill & Ted voice). There are a few companies that will save the stem cells in the cord blood, but at this stage, it isn’t cheap. I think we were looking at anything from $2000 to $6000. The cheaper amount meant that you would pay an annual fee of around $250…every year.
As I understand it, which is not saying much I assure you, “banking” the cord blood assures that your child has a ready supply of stem cells that can possibly save them from certain blood diseases, and in the future, from even more things. For that money though, they better be able to grow an additional arm…you know, for grappling. Think about how useful that would be. Most of these diseases are very rare, which means you are likely buying the liquid equivalent of…nothing...if they never get sick.
And that's the sticking point of course. If on the off chance that your child does suffer from one of those diseases and you didn’t save the cord blood… Ah guilt, I know thee well.
…but even if I was made of money, I don’t think that this would be on my list.
I’m thinking…I don’t know, maybe Halloween on that one. Certainly not Valentines Day, nor an Anniversary of any kind. Blood just never seems to be on my short list of presents for Christmas.
In seriousness though, anyone who gets pregnant these days will probably face the Cord Blood question from their OB/GYN. It’s usually one of the little glossy pamphlets they give you and is promptly ignored by the husband and fretted over by the wife. I had never even heard of it before my wife informed me that we had another decision to make. My first thought was – “They can do that. Excellent.”, which was followed by – “They want how much for it? Bogus.” (Yes, I do often think about major life decisions in my Bill & Ted voice). There are a few companies that will save the stem cells in the cord blood, but at this stage, it isn’t cheap. I think we were looking at anything from $2000 to $6000. The cheaper amount meant that you would pay an annual fee of around $250…every year.
As I understand it, which is not saying much I assure you, “banking” the cord blood assures that your child has a ready supply of stem cells that can possibly save them from certain blood diseases, and in the future, from even more things. For that money though, they better be able to grow an additional arm…you know, for grappling. Think about how useful that would be. Most of these diseases are very rare, which means you are likely buying the liquid equivalent of…nothing...if they never get sick.
And that's the sticking point of course. If on the off chance that your child does suffer from one of those diseases and you didn’t save the cord blood… Ah guilt, I know thee well.
posted by Beeley at 11:16 AM
2 Comments:
Maybe it's the conspiracy theorist in me, or maybe it's because I just finished re-reading Orwell's 1984, (though I'm thinking more like Huxley...) but storing blood/genetic material for the possible generation/re-generation of cells/body parts freaks me out, notwithstanding the potential benefit to my child.
I just imagine some Agency cloning my child in the name of scientific research, or worse!! 'tis a Brave New World...
I hear you. I'm also particularly astonished at how read you are. You are a JMU grad aren't you??
But as I stated, a third hand or extra eyeball would be helpful from time to time.
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