If you’re trying to be homo economicus and maximize your expected utility, probably it’s not worth it. But if you’re not, you can still do it! We did (blood and tissue).
How valuable are the stem cells right now
not very valuable
and how valuable are they expected to be in the future?
very valuable but that’s been the expectation for a long time and yet here we are
How hard is it to get stem cells for yourself / your child right now vs in the future?
anything you harvest later on will have had more cellular divisions in its history, so in some (not yet practical) sense this opportunity is unique
Will the collected stem cells be only useful for the baby or the mother too?
right now probably neither, but the kind of application you might hope for in the future would be benefiting the baby
Can we reasonably expect the cryo companies to last long enough and not go under?
sure—but if they have an accident you’re also not losing much expected utility, either
If you are going to save it for family use, I would do so only if you are aware of a known risk requiring use of such a donation in the baby or family, such as an inherited blood disorder or similar risk factor. If there is none, the cost-effectiveness of cord blood banking
Congratulations!
If you’re trying to be homo economicus and maximize your expected utility, probably it’s not worth it. But if you’re not, you can still do it! We did (blood and tissue).
How valuable are the stem cells right now
not very valuable
and how valuable are they expected to be in the future?
very valuable but that’s been the expectation for a long time and yet here we are
How hard is it to get stem cells for yourself / your child right now vs in the future?
anything you harvest later on will have had more cellular divisions in its history, so in some (not yet practical) sense this opportunity is unique
Will the collected stem cells be only useful for the baby or the mother too?
right now probably neither, but the kind of application you might hope for in the future would be benefiting the baby
Can we reasonably expect the cryo companies to last long enough and not go under?
sure—but if they have an accident you’re also not losing much expected utility, either
Have you had experience donating it?
no
Have you had experience storing it?
yes
Here is another source when looked at was: https://www.cordlifeindia.com/
If you are going to save it for family use, I would do so only if you are aware of a known risk requiring use of such a donation in the baby or family, such as an inherited blood disorder or similar risk factor. If there is none, the cost-effectiveness of cord blood banking