Should I bank cord blood, cord tissue, and/or the placenta?

The umbilical cord blood is rich with powerful stem cells - hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to be precise. A baby's own HSCs are so powerful because they are a 100% genetic match, meaning that they may also have the power to treat family members. Banking a baby's own umbilical cord is so powerful finding an exact genetic match for umbilical cord blood - if it's needed to treat diseases in the future - is difficult, especially for people of color and multiracial people.

The cord tissue of a baby's umbilical cord is filled with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which have the potential to become cartilage, bone, and connective tissue cells. In the case of personal injury or physical ailments, these can potentially be extremely helpful.

The placenta is rich with mesenchymal stem cells, the same kind of stem cells that are in the umbilical cord tissue. Placental tissue MSCs, however, specifically have valuable growth elements, which are effective when it comes to anti-aging, limiting neural degeneration, and more. Anja banks the placenta amnion.

If you're going to choose just one, we recommend the umbilical cord blood because it serves as a great foundation for stem cell treatments. However, our most popular option is to bank the umbilical cord blood, cord tissue, and the placenta because parents have that one special window of opportunity to maximize the stem cell count and variety.