Mommy to be July 2013

We are still on the fence about the banking. None of the sales guys have any answers to a) What therapies do they have access to right now and what therapies are they working on b) what is their 15/20 year plan? c) How will they ensure that adequate amount of blood and cells are collected so that it is useful to my child as an adult (which is when they are most likely to need transplants or therapies the odds of them needing anything in the first 10 years are really low?

They basically went on and on about their prices, their facilities and what stem cells can do. I was like I know all of that (since I read your website too). They just said that they would get back. Needless to say no one is calling me with offers.

I dont know if I had the misfortune of meeting some bad sales guys or these companies really dont know what they are doing. Did any of you guys get any answers to these questions?

 

Pixie,

1. What do you mean by therapies access?.. As per their explanation.. they were saying.. these people can generate the cells in millions and give to hospital.. (banking people don't do treatment.. just generate and give)

2. All banking says.. 21 yrs they keep in the banking.. and if its not used during that time.. you can renew after 21 years..

3. Amount of blood /cells taken from cord..: for this they say that.. this cells can be regenerated from a small amount of cord cells and bloods cells.. in cryocells .. if its not sufficient.. we will get the matching one from public bank and give it to us..

4. Both cryo and life cell, says that if the quality don't meet the requirement.. we will give insurance of some amt.. 6L ..

5. 10L amt for treatment..

 

Chitra:

1) As far as I understand that there are only a very few proven therapies in existence right now. The rest are all in some stage of trial or the other. What therapies do they support right now? and what will they be able to support in the future. Since the amount of cord cells and cord blood that is collected is limited- are they going to be able to support all therapies in the future. How many public banks do they have access to? India's public cord cell banking system isnt that advanced or well developed. So what does the reassurance that they will borrow from public banks for me mean in realistic terms. Similarly, nothing stops me from accessing the public bank on my own as well in the future- Cryobanks is doing me no service unless they have special/greater access than I do.

2) I asked for their business plan to understand how serious are they about this business. Nothing stops Reliance or Cryobanks to stop shop tomorrow/file for bankruptcy. What happens then- to the cells that I have banked with them and the money I paid them?

3) What kind of insurance cover do they have? Trying to understand the fine print on the 5-10 lac insurance that these guys are offering us in turn (there is no such thing as a free lunch so I want to know how financially sound are they) and what is it contingent on. Essentially the same reason why despite very high premiums you end up buying LIC because their approval rates are much higher than any of the private guys (who sometimes offer term plans at half the price).

4) What my research (mostly online) tells me is that depending on how much blood is collected at birth drives till what age your baby can use the cells. Thats why they have plans ranging upto Rs 4 lacs (which has something like 500 million cells ). So I wanted to understand what kind of therapies are likely to get covered under what plan.

 

Pixie,

Thanks for your post!!! Though i pray never should any of our LOs need this cord in future and god keeps them healthy.. It is good to benefit frm ur research and finding..
I am making a note of all the point and will ask the representative..
One more point to add, the insurance coverage point was covered since lifecell has its center in Chennai and in a seminar people had asked, since chennai was affected by cyclone what if samples are destroyed..

 

Pixie,

The rep who met me claimed the following

a) Therapies supported: Diabetes Type 1 ( more commonly diagnosed in children, young adults ),cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Brain/spinal cord injury, cystic fibrosis, cardiac therapy involving cancerous tumors & organ repair..whenever there is a need for transplant, the banked stem cells will come handy..most of the successful treatments using stem cells are abroad( there is a case study of 4 year old girl recovering from brain cancer & some boy treated from cerebral palsy..both abroad..In india the stem cells are under storage & haven't been used by anyone yet..)

b) As chitra mentioned, the stem cells are banked for 21 years ( for which you make the payment ), post which it is up to you whether you want to renew..as for long term plan, these guys claim presence in over 40 countries, having storage facility in other countries blah blah..so if anything happens to center in India , the cells can be transferred to anyplace across the globe..

c) Well, they do claim insurance cover..

d) apparently you get to use the stem cells twice..being from the umblical cord, they divide quicker & can be easily used ( twice ) for the aforementioned treatments..

Anyway, I am not totally convinced & may opt out of it..

 

Purnima: That was my whole problem. They have no idea about what treatments are happening in India (or like I said maybe I just met a newbie sales person), or even when they are likely to start in India (even bone marrow transplants are undertaken by very few hospitals in India- which is one of the most well established stem cell therapies). the more I read the more I get the impression that unless I am willing to/capable of flying to the US- I may realistically not be able to use these cells in India, even if required (God forbid).

I am going to ask my doctor at my next appointment and try and figure out as well. Will keep

 

This is an interesting discussion on cord blood banking. From what I've read, sometimes the cord blood may not work for the baby/child in question, as reintroducing the child's own cord blood may increase the chance of a relapse as disease-causing cells that existed from birth would be stored alongside useful stem cells. But it can be used by siblings, and could be beneficial.



Umbilical cord blood banking: Are thousands of parents wasting their money? | Mail Online

 

Hi everybody,
I am new here and expecting my second on July 25th. I have a 2.5yr old daughter and she will be 3 when the baby gets here..

I am 22.5 weeks now.. How is everybody doing?

 

Welcome Pray2god iam expecting my second one too and my first one is 2 yrs and 4 months completed ....