Millions of pregnant women get the pitch through their OB-GYN: Put a bit of your newborn’s umbilical cord on ice, as a biological insurance policy.
If your child one day faces cancer, diabetes or even autism, the precious stem cells in the cord blood could become a tailor-made cure.
More than two million umbilical cord samples sit in a handful of suburban warehouses across the country.
Doctors rarely use cord blood anymore, thanks to advances that have made it easier to transplant adult stem cells.
And the few parents who try to withdraw cord blood samples often find that they are unusable — either because their volume is too low or they have been contaminated with microbes.
Persons:
Drew Barrymore, Chrissy Teigen
Organizations:
OB, The New York Times