MORE than 11,000 British parents have paid to freeze stem cells from the umbilical cords of their newborn babies in order to grow body parts if their child becomes ill.

Leading scientists and doctors are now in favour of parents storing cord blood stem cells in private banks because they believe future medical breakthroughs could enable the cells to be used as a treatment for common illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

One obstetrician at the private Portland hospital in London even routinely suggests stem cell storage. Donald Gibb, a consultant obstetrician, fears that if he does not give his patients the option of storing their child’s stem cells they could later accuse him of denying them a cure.

Gibb, who is now asked to remove stem cells from the umbilical cords of more than 10% of newborn babies, said: “The parents could turn round and say, ‘Our child is now 12 years old and has leukaemia, why did you not tell us 12 years ago that we could do a stem cell collection?’ For that reason I do bring it up in discussions in the middle of pregnancy.”

The five best-known cord blood stem cell banks in Britain have collected between 700 and 4,500 samples each. They report annual sales increases of up to 200%. Parents pay about £1,400 to store the stem cells for 25 years.

At the moment, cord blood stem cells are used to treat conditions such as leukaemia that would otherwise need conventional stem cell transplants from bone marrow donations.

Critics of commercial cord blood banks say the chance of a child needing their own stem cells is one in 20,000.

However, scientists and doctors say the real benefit lies in the potential to treat common ailments such as heart disease. Stem cells from the umbilical cord can grow into brain, heart and liver tissue.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives are both opposed to parents storing cord blood stem cells for their family’s own use. They argue there is insufficient proof of their benefit.

They suggest parents should instead donate stem cells to a public bank for anyone who needs them.

Ballerina Darcey Bussell and footballer Thierry Henry are among celebrities who have stored their children’s cord blood stem cells.

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