Stem cells available with every birth

At the time of their infant's delivery, many new parents opt to have their obstetrician collect "cord blood" from their new baby's umbilical cord. Stem cells are extracted from this blood, processed, and maintained in the event that child or others should require stem cell transplant of any kind in the future. This is not inexpensive, but certainly holds lifesaving potential.

When cord blood is not harvested the entire umbilical cord and placenta, after proper inspection, are discarded. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of stem cells are destroyed daily in this normal process of discarding medical waste. Why not fund live stem cell harvesting from the afterbirth of a healthy newborn, just minutes old, than from a living embryo discarded from reproductive assistance or the dead or live tissue of an aborted baby?

Suzanne Boward

Schaumburg