Out for blood

Our little one is a 21st-century baby. That means, by age 16, he'll be learning how to drive a flying car; by age 18, he'll vote using a simple touch-screen machine that finally works; and by the time he's able to retire at age 120 (with no social security benefits), he will be half-robot and able to communicate telepathically.

His voyage into this new technological world begins at his birth, when Jennifer and I will have his cord blood stored. In case you haven't heard, storing cord blood is the big thing these days, since cord blood is an uncontroversial source of stem cells. Stem cells can be used to battle diseases such as the cooties and being "it," and can grow necessary organs if need be. By storing our baby's cord blood, we know this medical technology will be available to him if there's a problem. Jennifer's doctor recommended a couple of the nation's top cord blood facilities, and this week we decided to check them out. The doc didn't warn us, though, that once you make an inquiry, these groups will jump on you faster than your alma mater's fundraising office. Our phone has been ringing off the hook.

We basically had to make a choice between two companies: one based in Massachusetts, and another one based in California. A third option, a company based in Transylvania, made no mention of medical research, or saving the blood for that matter... so we immediately turned that one down.

The California company's specialty seems to be storage. They promised to keep the cord blood in an ultra-safe, earthquake-free location, guarded day and night by ill-tempered security personnel and a pack of wild cougars. The Massachusetts company, whose ad is pictured on the right, focuses more on stem cell research to possibly develop cures for diseases, grow organs, and find ways to make puppies fly.

Jennifer and I carefully considered each option, and in the end we went with the Massachusetts company, since it also offered us a gift card to Babies R Us. I'm looking forward to the day several years from now, when our little one shows his appreciation for something we bought with that gift card, and I could tell him that he paid for it with his own blood.