Celebs making a healthy investment at blood bank
APLYMOUTH medical company which operates the UK’s largest human tissue bank has revealed several celebrity influencers who have banked their baby’s cord blood – in the hope that the stem cells they contain may treat or even cure a range of diseases in the future.
Biovault Family, based at Derriford’s International Medical and Technology Park, has revealed that 2014 Strictly Come Dancing winner Ore Oduba and his wife, Portia, banked the cord blood from their new baby, Genie, in October last year.
The celebrity couple have followed TV presenter and model Louise Roe and husband Mackenzie Hunkin in choosing to bank cord blood from their baby, Inès.
In 2020, Ricky Martin – winner of The Apprentice in 2012 – and his wife, Gemma, used Biovault Family for the second time, after the birth of their baby daughter.
Stem cells left in a baby’s umbilical cord blood after birth are especially powerful, able to regenerate every kind of damaged blood cell. So far, cord blood stem cells are being used to treat more than 80 diseases, including cancers like leukaemia and lymphoma, inherited immune system and immune-cell disorders, sickle cell disease and anaemia, and Gaucher disease. They can also help to treat other immune, blood and neurological disorders.
The company says that stem cells are held safe for as long as 50 years, and can be banked from £695. Ore and Portia decided to bank the cord blood of their second baby and said it was a ‘no-brainer’.
Portia said: “For us as a family, it was the right decision. If the unthinkable was ever to happen and we could save or help our children and other family members with stem cells, why wouldn’t we?
“Because these cells can treat over 80 diseases, it was a no-brainer for us. We just hope more families look into this whilst pregnant. Biovault is a brilliant company, run with compassion and heart at the forefront of everything they do. They just want to help expectant parents in any way they can.”
Louise, also a fashion journalist, said it was an important act for them as a family. She said: “Stem cells have the ability to be life-changing and life-saving. With more and more discoveries being made each year, this was a very important thing for us to do as a family.
“We decided to bank our newborn daughter’s stem cells using Biovault, after having a long chat with them over the phone. They’re the only place in the UK that has their own storage facility and an insurance policy that means, if anything happens to the company, our baby’s cells will still be looked after for 50 years.
“The diseases this can help treat and cure are very wide-spanning, and the list is growing. I do feel a huge sense of security knowing we have invested in our baby’s health and future.”
Ricky said: “My family and I decided to bank our newborn daughter’s stem cells using Biovault. All it took was a detailed phone call and we were convinced. As the only place in the UK offering Escrow protection, our baby’s cells will be kept safe for 50 years, whatever happens to the company.
“It felt like the perfect solution and it’s great to know the cells we’ve saved might one day save a family member’s life”.