X-Message-Number: 9150 Subject: Re: Umbilical cord blood storage (CryoNet #9146) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 09:59:21 -0600 From: Will Dye <> Tim Freeman <> writes: > At http://www.cordblood.com/ there's an ad for some folks who will > freeze and store umbilical cord blood from a newborn baby, speculating > that it will eventually be good for something. [...] > Any comments? My wife Ailing will be giving birth to baby #2 in a few > months, so this is not a hypothetical proposition for us. I think it's sensible for those that can afford it. The $100-per-year maintainance fee seems a bit steep. You may want to talk to the folk at CryoSpan or something about a one-time payment. Short of things like the Omega Point, information like that (in this case, some DNA that was original at the time of birth) will often be unrecoverable. As time passes, the value of it will likely increase. As the centuries pass, it seems plausible that at least someone will find it quite valuable, if only because it's original and irreplacable. When I was musing on writing a novel, one of the scenes was the discovery of a "jackpot" treasure trove: a 1995 furnace filter that was put in place and not changed for a year. Furnace filters collect dust (mostly skin cells), which is an unbiased record of who was there & other information. Makes you kind of wonder about how those in the future will regard our subsidies of recycling. :-) Anyway, the blood sample from you upcoming child's umbilical cord might be of use during your child's lifetime. And it will likely be of value sometimes in the future, either to your child or to some history-minded person/entity somewhere among your child's decendants. BTW, congratulations to you and Ailing on the pending arrival of #2. I have two myself, and they are a source of constant distraction, occasional pain, deep challenge, and indescribable joy. Welcome to parenthood (again). I do hope that Ailing is doing well. --Will ____________________________ __________________________________________ / William L. Dye (willdye) \ \ I support term limits. When I become \ \ -or- \ \ dictator-for-life, I promise to serve \ \ \ \ only ONE term. --Michael Cornelius \ \_____________________________\ \________________________________________/ Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9150