Deepak and Savita Thakur, a couple in the tricity, are expecting their second child. Despite a substantial chunk of money involved (on an average the storage of such stem cells requires Rs 70,000), the Thakurs have already made up their mind to go in for cord blood stem cell banking or the umbilical blood banking.

“My elder daughter, now 5 years, is suffering from leukemia. After consulting doctors, we have come to know that the matching of the stem cells between siblings is quite high. I pray to Almighty that my second child remains healthy. The stem cells stored at the time of my second delivery can be used for my daughter,” says Deepak.

If the figures of the city’s first such collection centre Life Cell are to believed, within two years they have registered more than 300 couples who have opted for cord blood banking. This blood is collected at the time of delivery from placenta and is believed to carry stem cells.

“People from every walk of life are getting registered with us. We have cases where there is some disease existing in the family but at the same time, there are a large number of couples who have gone in for banking by studying the pros and cons,” claims Hridesh Jaiswal, Centre head of LifeCell.

While the affluent certainly find their names in the registration lists, the middle class and salaried couple too want to jump the bandwagon. To lure this profile, the centres are even offering payments in instalments for 21 years (the whole time of storage of the stem cells) with the initial payment of Rs 7,000 as the registration fee.

Even as the experts lament the hype and huge investments surrounding umbilical cord blood banking especially in the absence of a long-term research, the young couples treat it as a long-term investment.

“We treat it as an investment for our child. We wish he does not need to use these stored cells ever but just in case, we have stored the stem cells through the best technology that is available. The whole process of going in for the banking is not merely medical but also emotional,” says a working mother in Chandigarh.

Ques: Is there any hope?

Prof Vivekanand Jha, PGI

“At the moment, all the claims of stem cell banking are merely a promise. It just gives us hope about a therapy that we are still are not sure about. All the claims by private banks are pre-mature as there is no study or concrete research to back the. No public sector hospital is as yet a part of the cord blood banking.”

Prof Vanita Jain, Department of Gynaecology, PGI