Though most infants are born healthy and grow up without any incidence of serious disease, parents are aware that at any time serious illness can strike their child, compromising his future.

As a form of therapy for various life-threatening diseases, bone marrow transplantation has been widely used. In this process, family members are tested to find a suitable match for the patient. However, there is only a one in four chance that a match will be found. A national search typically ensues to find a match through registry with the National Marrow Donor Program, which has yielded a 30 percent match rate, and in some minority groups, the number of matches are even fewer. This is discouraging news for parents. Add to that the lengthy wait times and the mounting medical expenses, and it can be very disheartening for the family of a sick child.

Because of these problems with bone marrow transplantation, researchers began looking into alternative sources for transplants.

Cord blood is the blood that remains in your baby's umbilical cord after the cord has been cut, and it is usually thrown away. Like bone marrow, cord blood is a rich source of stem cells, which are the building blocks of blood and the immune system. They differentiate, or reproduce, into other cells: red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body; white blood cells, which fight infections; and platelets, which are necessary for clotting.

"One of the latest possibilities that parents are now considering is the ability to have their physician collect cord blood, enriched with life-enhancing stem cells, easily and painlessly from the baby's umbilical cord and placenta at birth," says Dr. Michael Lill, medical director at the California Cryobank Inc. in Santa Monica, Calif., one of the largest tissue banks in the world. "Approximately 3 to 5 ounces of cord blood are collected from the umbilical cord and placenta after the baby is born. The blood is then packaged in a collection kit provided by the cord blood bank and then transported to the cord blood storage facility, where it remains as 'insurance' for possible later use."

The samples are stored at the cord blood bank of choice, providing the parents with a safeguard of their baby's future health as well as the health of their family.

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