The baby or siblings will never need the stem cells if my family doesn't have a history of cancer.

Fact: People choose to bank their babies' cord blood in order to provide themselves and their families with an additional safeguard-just in case. The causes for most cancers and diseases are unknown, and in some cases, certain types of cancers are growing at alarming rates.

(1) Recent reports indicate that one in 630 children will get cancer by age fifteen.
(2) Additionally, treatments for cancer only reflect current uses and do not consider the increasing applications and promising therapies that are in development.
1. Lichtenstein, P., et al. Environmental and Heritable Factors in the Causation of Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2000;343(2):78-85.
2. Freedberg, L. Cancer Rates for Children Worry Experts. San Francisco Chronicle. September 17, 1997.