New Delhi: Actor Gauahar Khan and her husband Zaid Darbar speak to experts and promote the benefits of cord blood banking in a viral Instagram Reel. “Wanted to preserve our baby’s healthy future,” Khan told her millions of followers during her 2023 pregnancy. In another viral Reel, an influencer and mother calls cord blood banking a “once-in-a-lifetime chance.” The message is increasingly everywhere: store your baby’s stem cells now, or risk regret later.
But how much of this is science and how much is marketing?
As cord blood banking gains traction across India, propelled by doctor influencers and emotionally charged social media content, medical experts say the growing belief in its near-miraculous potential is often overstated, and in many cases, misleading, leaving many parents confused and overwhelmed. Amid emotional appeals and half-explained science, many expectant parents are being nudged toward what is often marketed as a “biological insurance”, paid upfront to secure their child’s future health.
Cord blood banking involves the collection, freezing and long-term preservation of blood from a newborn’s umbilical cord and tissue from the mother’s placenta after delivery. These samples can be stored for years at ultra-low temperatures. In India, the cost of this procedure typically ranges from Rs 45,000 to Rs 1,50,000 for long-term storage, with initial collection and processing fees often between Rs 50,000 and Rs 90,000.
The appeal is straightforward. Cord blood is rich in hematopoietic stem cells, which can regenerate healthy blood cells. It also contains mesenchymal cells, which may help reduce transplant-related complications by lowering the likelihood of the body rejecting foreign tissue. These cells are already used in several life-saving treatments and for some families, the decision feels justified by perceived risk.
Neha Bhatnagar, mother of a three-year-old chose to preserve her child’s cord blood because of genetic disorders in the family.
“The bank told us it could help with dozens of conditions,” she said. “We also thought it might be useful for siblings if needed.”
But experts say that many of the sweeping claims made by private cord blood banks — that these cells can turn into almost any cell type, have limitless potential, and treat more than 80 conditions — do not stand up to scientific scrutiny.
“Umbilical cord blood stem cells can currently only help in select blood disorders such as Thalassemia or bone marrow diseases such as leukaemia, or aplastic anaemia”, said Vijeya Sherbet, Consultant Obstetrician, Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru. “The likelihood of privately banked blood being used for the child or immediate family is low.”
Too many limitations
The limitations are both biological and practical. For one, cord blood often cannot be used to treat genetic diseases in the same child, since the stored cells may carry the same defect. Then there is the issue of volume.
“The volume of cord blood collected at birth is typically 60-100 ml, which is only sufficient for treating a child weighing around 20–30 kg. If a disease occurs in adulthood, this limited quantity of stem cells is unlikely to be enough to regenerate bone marrow for a 70–80 kg individual—whether for the same person or even a sibling,” explained Satish Kumar A, Haematologist and Hemato-oncologist, Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru.
Even within families, its usefulness hinges on compatibility. Stem cell transplants require an HLA match i.e. specific protein markers that determine whether the body will accept or reject transplanted cells. Without that match, privately stored cord blood may offer little advantage over searching for donors through public registries.
“So, in a scenario where an older sibling develops a bone marrow disorder, and the younger sibling is an HLA match, these stored stem cells could be useful. Otherwise, you still have to find stem cell donors through public banks,” said Kumar. “If parents are not planning another child, it’s of no use.”
Despite this, many private cord blood banks continue to advertise far broader possibilities, suggesting these cells could treat upwards of 80 conditions, including diabetes, autism and cerebral palsy.
Experts say such claims are premature. A 2022 study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, examining white matter changes in the brains of autistic children, explicitly cautioned against interpreting its findings as proof that cord blood improves clinical outcomes in autism.
“The claims that these cells can be used in regenerative medicine, for instance, in spinal cord disorders: there is no evidence for it. These applications are still in early-stage research,” said Kumar.
What studies say
At its core, the science is far more limited than the marketing suggests.
Scientists emphasise that these are adult stem cells with a limited repertoire — they are not a magic potion. The haematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells extracted from cord blood are a form of adult stem cells and can develop into blood cells and connective tissue cells like cartilage.
A 2024 BMJ investigation found that some private cord blood banks defended these claims by pointing to emerging research. For instance, Cells4Life cited studies suggesting that mesenchymal stem cells could be reprogrammed in a lab into more versatile forms capable of developing into all kinds of tissues.
Charles Murry, the director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington, responded saying they don’t provide a clear path to treatment yet.
“The biobanks store the starting material in a 1000-step journey,” he said. “They don’t provide you with a route to a scientist in a lab.”
Longer hospital stays, higher costs
There are also clinical drawbacks. Cord blood stem cells can take longer to start working, delaying recovery and, in some cases, require longer hospital stays and higher treatment costs.
“Based on current evidence, private cord blood banking isn’t justified. I suspect that any actual use is rare. Donating to a public bank and enabling further research would be far more useful than paying for private banking”, said Anurag Agrawal, Dean, Biosciences and Health Research, Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, Haryana.
The Indian Academy of Paediatrics and the American Academy of Paediatrics recommend private cord blood storage only when there is a known medical need within the family, such as a sibling or parent with a condition like thalassemia.
Outside of these specific situations, experts warn that private banks often target anxious, expectant parents appealing to their sense of responsibility to do everything possible for their child.
Some countries, including Italy and Spain, as well as regions such as Dubai, have restricted or banned private cord blood banking.
“It essentially locks away a resource you are very unlikely to use, while making it unavailable to others who might genuinely need it. Public cord blood banks are best suited to the use of these cells,” said Sherbet.
Public cord blood banking allows this limited resource to be used where it is most needed. Donated cord blood becomes a part of a shared registry, helping patients — particularly those without matching family donors—access life-saving transplants. With no cost to the donor and relatively lower costs for recipients, it treats cord blood as a community resource rather than a privately stored reserve.
Globally, an estimated 800,000 units of umbilical cord blood are stored in public banks, compared with roughly 4 million units in private facilities.
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The India imbalance
India faces a similar imbalance. The country currently has more than a dozen private cord blood banks and only four public cord blood banks. Among them, the Jeevan Stem Cell Foundation in Chennai, started by Saranya Narayan and P. Srinivasan, houses one of the largest public cord blood inventories in South Asia.
Yet, even as private banks dominate the market, public banks like Jeevan are struggling to sustain themselves. Although its cord blood bank and registry remain operational, the organisation is no longer accepting new donations due to a lack of funds.
Now functioning as the Jeevan Stem Cell Foundation, it continues to run its bone marrow donor registry, BeTheCure, and support patients with conditions such as blood cancers and thalassemia. However, its activities have been scaled back significantly, with new cord blood collections halted.
The result is a paradox: a growing private market built on promise, and a struggling public system that experts say would deliver far greater real-world benefit.
While experts advise against routine private cord blood banking, the decision is often not straightforward for parents.
“When expectant parents visit me, I make sure to discuss these details with them. They need to be made aware of both the benefits and the limitations of public and private cord blood banking, through more open and transparent discussions so they can make truly informed decisions,” said Sherbet.
For expecting parents like Ranjana Pal, the decision remains fraught.
“I have been thinking about preserving my baby’s cord blood stem cells for months,” Dehradun-based Pal, 35, said, who is due to deliver soon. “But after watching countless videos on social media calling it a one-time opportunity, I’m still not sure what to believe.”
(Edited by Stela Dey)