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I know, it is way too soon to start making arrangements about cord blood banking when the baby is due 7 months from now. Yet, I am pretty sure that the more I get to find out about the subject, the easier it would be for me and my husband to make the right decision for the future of the entire family. Yes, you read that right. In the remote case you havent heard it by now, cord blood banking has grown so popular over the last decades, that it is more unusual nowadays not to pursue it.

I heard a couple of stories from other couples who did the same when their time came. Most of them are very satisfied and at ease with what they chose to do for their babys future health. The only couple I know that was not so happy about it was having some money issues when I last saw them, as the husband was in between jobs, so being able to pay the installments was their only concern. Nothing else related to medical issues.

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The procedure, I hear, is quite simple, quick and painless. They only need to move fast enough, to make sure the cord blood sample they get is adequate for storage. So, they need to take some precautions during handling, but Im positive they know perfectly well what they are doing, as they are caring, experienced professionals very passionate about their jobs. Nobody can argue this. The only thing I have to remember is to check out courier service providers, Toronto hosting quite a few, so as to make sure I pick up the fastest, most reliable one out there.

Even though no close relatives of mine had any serious illness that could make me worry about the future of my little one, this does not mean I could not store my babys cord blood for somebody else, quite the contrary. The stem cells from healthy blood can be used by any compatible patient, anywhere in the world.

There are so many people suffering in the world, so many children desperately waiting for a stem cell transplant that could save them from leukemia, lymphoma, metabolic diseases etc. Their lives are definitely worth the price of that minor intervention at birth. Why discard what could be used someday to make the only difference that counts in other peoples lives?

I read that the cryogenically preserved stem cells have no such thing as an expiration date, so the frozen cord blood should be usable for decades. In my case, the decision has already been made. The stem cells extracted from the umbilical cord are an amazing example of lifes capability to hold in itself the power to renew, regenerate and restart all over again. A wonderful unique chance I would not miss for the world!

Last night, before I went to bed, I had a long conversation over the phone with my girlfriend in Brampton. She sounded so happy, so at peace about the outcome of her babys journey, relieved for the decision she had made to have her newborns cord blood banked exactly as she had planned throughout her pregnancy.

The doctors were so nice to her. Everything went on smoothly, without any kind of incidents: no pain, no stress, no fear. Right after the baby was born, the guys from CReATe Cord Blood Bank were expecting the cord blood, and it was easy to arrange a fast delivery from Brampton to Toronto by courier, so she did not have to worry for a second about the safety of her recently collected sample.

She told me that she had absolutely no regrets about the decision she had made, confessing that this would make her sleep well at night for as long as she and her baby live (and they should, for quite a long time, considering the kind of arrangement she managed to pull through).

I asked her what made her resort to this kind of medical procedure, knowing that, to some people out there, this is kind of expensive. She admitted having weighed for some time all the pros and cons. Yet, the answer came very fast in her case.

It was more like a hunch that this is exactly what any mother needs to do for her and her familys peace of mind. The best life insurance anyone can get, made possible through the miracle of life germinating in what doctors used to consider waste material some decades ago talking about the umbilical cord that was clamped, cut and discarded in the old days.

To think how far we have come these days, storing stem cell containing cord blood, freezing it, until anyone else on the planet found to be a match can safely use it to recreate new cells. Healthy ones, capable of replacing the old, damaged ones. Talk about revolution in medicine!

Forgive my enthusiasm. I am just happy for her! Especially since I know that she lost both of her sisters to leukemia and the odds of this blood disease striking again in her family are pretty high. Yet, she somehow managed to gain the upper hand and be prepared in case something like this were to happen again.

Quite impossible, given the promise of renewed life she now holds for the next 20 years, that is how long the cord blood bank promised to take care of her babys precious cells when she sealed the deal with them. I know it sound pretty silly of me to make such a fuss over this regular routine, but, believe me, I never heard her so content about any of her other long-term life insurances. Because none of those involved the promise of getting a second chance to starting all over again, virtually from scratch...