Anne Figgins
Anne Figgins and her husband Paul decided to store their baby’s stem cells only two months before the birth of their son Callum in May 2007. Two of their friends had used stem cell banks and recommended the service, prompting the couple to research the different options available. They decided to store Callum’s stem cells because they wanted to protect him as much as possible, in case he ever became ill in the future. They believe in the future possibilities of stem cells to treat conditions from heart disease to diabetes.
Anne says, “You get different types of insurance, for example for your car, and the cost is spread over a long time. As with all insurance policies, we hope that we will never need to use it, but, worst case, should we ever need to make use of the cells we will know that we have done all we can.
“Years ago people had reservations about organ donation but now most people would do it without thinking. We view stem cell banking as an extension of organ and blood donation,” she says.
“We were aware of the House of Lords Select Committee Report and its recommendations, which prompted the government to make significant funds of £100m available to the Department of Health for stem cell research over the next couple of years, making the possibilities even more viable.
“One thing which really swayed us into choosing Virgin Health Bank was the public/private split of the bank. Some of the other organisations we researched were similarly priced but none offered the dual bank aspect.
“We signed up for the service quite late as we had to find out from our health authority if our hospital would provide stem cell collection. The hospital did not want its midwives to collect the stem cells so we brought in a locum nurse to collect them. She came into the room as soon as Callum was born and collected his stem cells in a matter of minutes. I didn’t want to think about any of the logistics when I was giving birth but I didn’t have to – she made it very easy for us. She even came to visit me a few days later, to check how I was.
“Everything was really straightforward from start to finish. I would definitely use Virgin Health Bank again.”