Parents pay out for stem cells

THOUSANDS of parents are paying more than £2,000 to freeze samples from their babies’ umbilical cords at birth – because they contain stem cells which could treat future illnesses.

Doctors say that the cells, which are collected immediately after birth, could be used to fight conditions in both the child itself and its siblings.

The cells could ‘treat a potentially infinite range of illnesses’ including cancer and Alzheimer’s, they say.

Stem cells are ‘blank’ cells that can be reprogrammed to turn into any other cell in the body. This means they can replace damaged cells. They are also found in bone marrow and some body tissue, but the procedure to harvest them from umbilical cords is less risky.

More and more British women – including dancer Darcey Bussell and TV presenter Natalie Pinkham – are turning to companies that offer to collect blood and tissue samples from their baby’s umbilical cord, and then freeze the stem cells for them. Stem cells can be stored for years.

But it does not come cheap – rival cell banks Precious Cells Group and Future Health Biobank both offer the service for £2,250. According to Precious Cells, which offers parents the chance to preserve their newborn’s stem cells for 25 years, it is hoped that advances in medicine will allow doctors to use the cells to treat ‘debilitating later life diseases’, including some cancers, blood disorders and inherited immune proble ms.

Dr Husein Salem, the group’s founder and CEO, said: ‘Stem cells have the ability to treat a potentially infinite range of illnesses and diseases. Stem cell therapy is being used to treat some cancers and stroke victims – and there is fast progress being made in many other areas, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.’

Jo Studholme, 41, from Boston, Lincolnshire, said she had her daughter’s cord frozen as ‘an insurance policy which we hope we are never going to have to use’.