When each of our children were born we, like many other parents were asked in the delivery room if we were saving the cord blood. To be honest, we had never really given it too much thought but we knew that we were not in a position where we were willing to pay, or could afford to pay, the fees associated with privately banking cord blood. We said no. That was it. Nothing further was ever mentioned. We didn't even know there was an option of donating the cord blood.

In retrospect, had we chosen to privately bank their cords, the nature of Mason's genetic disease would have prevented him from utilizing his own cord. Mason's brother Reilly could have been the first and best possible option for Mason's transplant; however, his HLA typing was not a match for Mason which meant his cord blood could not have been used for Mason as well. So even with banked cord blood, Mason still needed to rely on someone else unselfishly donating the cord blood that would have otherwise been discarded.

There are many differing statistics on the likelihood that you will utilize your own child’s cord. It is everyone’s own personal and private decision to decide what they will do with their child's cord blood. The Mason Shaffer Foundation advocates donating your cord blood.

Our personal feeling is that it should be easy for parents and hospitals to facilitate appropriate donations so there is an adequate supply of potentially life saving cords (a.k.a. liquid gold as we call it) available for transplant and research. That is one of the main reasons we established The Mason Shaffer Foundation. By expanding the network of qualified cord blood donation hospitals, supporting cord stem cell research, and educating expectant families on the cord blood donation process; we know we can save lives. We have personally seen it through Mason.

Please - SAVE A LIFE ... DONATE CORD BLOOD