Nearly one million parents are now protecting their family’s future health by preserving their baby’s newborn stem cells with CBR,1 the world’s largest and most experienced newborn stem cell preservation company.2
As ongoing research reveals new potential uses for cord blood and cord tissue stem cells in transplant and regenerative medicine, many people – both brand new parents and those of now grown CBR babies – reach out to us with questions about their baby’s stored stem cells. Questions like …
1. My child is older now, how long should I store their stem cells?
While no one can predict future illness or injury, it is wise to consider the lifetime storage of stem cells. Here’s why:
- Cord blood has been used in stem cell transplants for over 30 years, helping tens of thousands of people worldwide.3 As uses expand – especially in the promising field of regenerative medicine – so does the likelihood that the stem cells may be needed by your child or another member of your family.
- Numerous serious diseases, like most forms of leukemia, that occur without warning later in life are treatable with cord blood.
- Based on the most recent data, the likelihood of needing a stem cell transplant by age 70 using any source of stem cells is 1 in 217.4
2. How long are stored newborn stem cells viable?
Based on current data, cord blood stem cells should remain useful indefinitely,5 so your family may be able to use the cells for diseases and injuries that occur decades from now. CBR goes above and beyond to ensure newborn stem cells are ready if and when they are needed.
- CBR’s state-of-the-art 80,000 sq. ft. laboratory and storage facility – the largest newborn stem cell bank in the world – is specially designed to help ensure the long-term safety of newborn stem cells.
- We offer the highest quality care and protection – samples are continuously monitored 24/7 for temperature.
- Our facility is located in Tucson, Arizona, one of the safest cities in the nation in terms of risk from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, winter storms, and tornados.6
3. Who can use our baby’s stem cells?
Your baby is always a 100% match to their own newborn stem cells and may use them for certain diseases. Generally, first or second-degree relatives who are a suitable match may be able to use these stem cells as well.
- Full siblings are the most likely to be compatible matches, with up to a 75% chance of being at least a partial genetic match and a 25% chance of a perfect match.
- Parents will always be a partial match to their biological children.
- Extended family members like grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews are less likely to be immune compatible but still have the potential to be a partial match.
4. Should I preserve newborn stem cells for every child?
Yes. Saving cord blood and cord tissue for each child gives your family more options because:
- Each child has access to his or her own genetically unique cells. While there are some conditions for which baby may use his or her own stem cells, for many conditions with an underlying genetic cause, a matched sibling’s stem cells would be the first choice.
- Experimental regenerative medicine therapies generally use cells from a child’s own cord blood or a matched sibling’s cord blood.
5. What do I do if I want to use my baby’s newborn stem cells?
Should the need arise, CBR will work with your physician to arrange confirmatory testing, release, and transportation of your baby’s stem cells to a designated hospital. CBR has facilitated hundreds of releases of cord blood units, and it typically occurs by the following steps:
- We connect you with a CBR Clinical Specialist who will help assess your specific case and get the process started.
- If you have not already, we recommend that you contact the treating physician that would likely be performing the anticipated transplant or infusion.
- Next, a dedicated CBR team will begin working with your physician and the treating medical facility to prepare and safely release your cord blood units.
- Your cord blood units are then shipped safely and securely from CBR to the treatment facility.
Learn about the latest clinical trials
Storing your baby’s newborn stem cells opens the door to participating in some of the most important medical research happening today.
By joining the Family Health Registry™, you’ll be the first to know about clinical trials that could potentially help a loved one. These studies are advancing the science of newborn stem cells in the treatment of cerebral palsy, autism, juvenile diabetes, sensorineural hearing loss, and many other conditions.7,8
All CBR clients can participate in the Family Health Registry at no cost. Join our community today!.
Looking for more information?
Visit CBR’s FAQ page for answers to dozens of the most common questions parents have about newborn stem cell preservation.
Expecting a child? Have friends or family who are expecting? Enroll with us today or log into your account for your unique referral code. When someone you refer preserves with CBR, you’ll get one year of free cord blood storage—and they’ll receive special pricing on our cord blood and cord tissue bundle.*
*Referral program applies only to existing CBR clients (“Referring Clients”) referring new clients to CBR (“Referred Clients”). Referring clients must accept terms of promotion and join CBR before receiving client referral rewards. Referred Client must enroll using referral link provided by Referring Client or mention Referring Client when enrolling over the phone. Discount may not be combined with other offers. Gift card promotion valid June 01, 2016 – June 30, 2022. Full terms and conditions can be found here.
References:
1. Internal source: data on file. 2. Internal source: data on file. 3. Ballen K. Update on umbilical cord blood transplantation. F1000Res. 2017;6:1556. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.11952.1. 4. Nietfeld JJ, Pasquini MC, Logan BR, et al. Lifetime probabilities of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the U.S. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2008;14(3):316-322. 5. Broxmeyer HE, Lee MR, Hangoc G, et al. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, generation of induced pluripotent stem cells, and isolation of endothelial progenitors from 21- to 23.5-year cryopreserved cord blood. Blood. 2011;117(18):4773-7. 6. The University of Arizona – Arizona Geological Survey, Natural Hazards in Arizona, Retrieved January 13. 2022, from https://uagis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=98729f76e4644f1093d1c2cd6dabb584. 7. Kindwall-Keller TL, Ballen KK. Umbilical cord blood: The promise and the uncertainty. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2020;9(10):1153-1162. 8. Baumgartner LS, Moore E, Shook D, et al. Safety of Autologous Umbilical Cord Blood Therapy for Acquired Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Children. Journal of Audiology & Otology 2018 Aug. doi: 10.7874/jao.2018.00115.
How many times can a sample be used? If we need to use it for a medical issue, is it one and done? Or is there a way to take a small sample and/or duplicate them? Or how much do we need for any particular procedure?
Thank you!
There are many factors that go into this answer, depending on the condition being treated, the number of cells in the sample, the body weight of the patient (to determine dose), and genetic matching. That’s why the decision is ultimately up to the treating physician. That being said, there are cases (like transplant medicine uses) where a family used all of it at once, but we have also had some of our clients do a partial use of their cord blood, reserving
the rest for potential future use. Researchers are also working on cell expansion technology, which will “grow” the number of cells in the sample.
I was told when I called may years ago that my twins stem cells would be viable for 15 years. They were born in 2004. Once they turned 15 I called to close my account, but I got the run around and I gave up. I called again some years later and was told someone would cancel the account but yet I still get billed. This is all very confusing and the company’s administration does not give me confidence that the stem cells are even still being stored properly or how do I really know they are being stored at all? I plan on talking with my son’s doctor about this to get his opinion on “indefinite storage” as this now seems a bit fishy given the information I received years ago.
Given all of the information available today, cord blood units in proper cryostorage should be able to be preserved indefinitely. We would love to chat further with you to help clarify our process.
Our children are not 17 and 14 with each of their cord blood being stored. Where can we find more information about other uses of cord blood for young adults and adults that are not necessarily disease related, such as for degenerative changes with aging?
Have you taken a look on our website, we have some really amazing stories from families that have used their newborn stem cells. https://www.cordblood.com/family-stories