Hi friends,
I’m here for some input and thoughts from fellow moms with diabetic children…here is my dillema nad I am wondering if any of you have been in this situation and if so what have you done??? Here it is…my 6 yr old son…non diabetic…my 5yr old daughter…type 1 diabetic diagnosed last Feb. We have no history of diabetes in our family and when she was born we did not have her stem cells collected. Now…with this 3rd baby I am contemplating… do I or don’t I? I know there is much research in progress having to do with using one’s OWN stem cells to cure diabetes. Now… first of all…it’s kind of expensive…but money aside…is it wrong to have this baby’s stem cells and possibly be able to cure this child if ever a diabetic…but not be able to give my daughter the same gift? From what I have read, a sibling’s stem cells can not ever be used to cure diabetes…only for themselves…I really do not know what to do…I would feel horrible if I could “fix” one and not the other, it would kill me…but then is it wrong to not at least give one a chance for a cure this route??? Please give any and all thoughts…they are always greatly appreciated…no one can understand like another type 1’s mom.
Knowing the technology may be there in the future, I think you have to do it or you may regret it. Wouldn’t you do anything you could to help your daughter? So doesn’t this new child deserve the same consideration? When you daughter gets older, I think she will agree that it was the right thing to do.
I am so glad that you brought this up! My husband refuses to have any more children. But If I could have another child, I would definitely save the cord blood and stem cells. Couldn’t the same stem cells help both kids? That being said, I don’t know if it can help or not. My husband seems to think it only works for cancer but admits he hasn’t researched the issue. I would be greatly interested in any information out there so please send it my way. We would do anything for our kids. Why not keep safe something that could cure a child that normally would be thrown away? People who say that isn’t right I just don’t understand.
I think it’s possible that it could help both kids if a cure is found that utilizes stem cells, although I’m not as well read on it as you are probably. For me the question would be - does it make sense to pay to harvest and store these for 20+ years in the hope that a cure could utilize them? Last time I researched this (6 years ago) there were some valid questions brought up about the process and the companies involved. You are going to have a very long commitment with them - I think it pays to do your homework. Granted a lot could have changed since then. Good luck.
Hi Kelly, thanks for the post.
I would do it if we were going to have another child.
One of my 3 yr old twins is T1, and I wish now I would have accepted saving the umbilical chord when they offered it to me 3 yr ago. Back then, no one in our family was diabetic, so who would have known my child was going to be T1. If I had his chord now, who knows what might be avail to him in the near future.
It would have only cost me around $4,000 to have the chord saved for 18 years. Maybe 3 years ago it seemed too expensive, but now that we’re living with T1 it looks so cheap! Good luck to you & God Bless.
Hi, my daughter was just dx Jan 20th of the this year. She is sixteen. So sixteen years ago storing the cord/blood was not an option for us. Never even asked. Your blessed to be in the time you are were you are being asked. If I was asked yeah I would have. Good luck with your decision.
Hi Rose…from the research I have done…and from what I understand…one child’s cord blood cannott help in a sibling’s cure for diabetes whatsoever. The only reason I would save this child’s cord blood is in case this child becomes a diabetic at some point. Which is why I have this dillema…I feel guilty to have one’s cord blood and not the other’s who I know I def could have used now.
There are several circumstances that a sibling’s cord blood could be used to help someone else in the family…unfortunately…diabetes is not one of them…only that person’s cord blood could be used to help themselves in the case of Type 1 diabetes 
Same story with us…no history of it so didn’t think there would be a need…
Okay…I am now reading that there are public cord blood banks that people donate to that are available to the public if needed and you can find a match…that’s somewhat comforting in teh event they find a cure using cord blood for my daughters sake and if I decide to not bank my 3rds cord blood because it is kind of expensive.
Not only would I do this, I would of course not neglect the obvious and collect and store her cord blood too. There have been studies using cord blood may possibly help in the future and of course if she ever got leukemia, cord blood would be needed. So bummed we did not do this but children have always been so healthy in our family and extended family. Did not even admit the possibility that health problems can and do arise. Plus the cord blood and maybe even stem cells could still be a match for the other siblings. Your D daughter may be able to use this one day.
I would absolutely do it. Don’t assume that the stem cells or cord blood might help one child or not the other. The technology isn’t there right now for any D cure, but it may be - for your current D child and for any who might be diagnosed in the future. The most you have to lose is the money, IMO.
It was so weird to read this post, it was like deja vu! We were in the same situation a few years ago. I had just found out I was pregnant again and then found out our second child had diabetes. I decided right away that I wanted to bank our third’s cord blood and so regretting that I hadn’t done it with Rory’s. So that is what we did. If you work in the healthcare field they offer discounts (I came upon this by chance while speaking with the representative but it was a nice discount) Maybe ask about discounts. The initial costs are the most, but they do offer payment plans to pay that off and then it is just the annual storage fee. I immediately asked about if there was the possibility of it being used to help a sibling with diabetes. Currently, it didn’t seem to be the case but there are so many benefits to having it available. I work as an OB nurse and it is a shame that the cord blood from all deliveries are not saved for families. Hopefully it will just become a routine practice and insurance will help cover it. But I feel it was a valuable investment.
I have 3 t1 children. Not to scare you, but it could happen, and does. Had I known “then” what I know now, I would have collected the cord blood and DONATED it for research!! Our youngest was dx at 16 mo. He is now 8. Our oldest was dx at age 20 he is now 22 and our middle son (all 3 are boys) was dx last April and he is now 10. Would I want to “fix” one and not the others? NO WAY…would I want to give researchers a chance to find a cure for THOUSANDS including my 3 sons? ABSOLUTLY!!! I would do it every time if I knew that there was even a one in a million chance that what I did helped find a cure for this crappy disease! There is NO diabetes on either side of our families. Only 2 of my sons are full siblings, our oldest was mine before my husband adopted him when he was 10. Who knows why all three have it…? We may never know…but we hold on to the fact that strides are being made ALL THE TIME in this field. Contact the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami. Dr. Camillo Ricordi to be exact. He or his team may be able to give you some insight on what they are doing in terms of stem cell procurement and research.