By Anthony Oliva, PhD
Updated September 2, 2026
Families evaluating newborn stem cell banking typically run into the “is this worth it” question or, as Gabby Reece put it to Kevin Ferber, COO of American Cell Technology and VitalCells, on The Gabby Reece Show: “For a few thousand dollars, why would I not?” Gabby came into that conversation with fifteen years of secondhand experience with stem cells, none of it from banking a newborn. She’d tried a liposuction-derived treatment on her own knee that had not given her much, and watched friends chase results as far as Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Germany, with outcomes that varied wildly from person to person. That variation raises a more useful question: what actually differs between cell sources, processing methods, and the way cells are ultimately used?
Your own cells are different than donor cells
One distinction Kevin emphasized in the conversation on The Gabby Reece Show was autologous versus allogeneic use. Autologous cells come from the same person who may eventually receive them, while allogeneic cells come from a donor. That distinction matters because donor-derived cells can interact differently with the recipient’s immune system, while autologous cells are genetically matched to the person they came from.
Many MSC clinical trials use allogeneic cells, not necessarily because those cells are preferable but often for practical reasons. It is easier, and less expensive, for a study to use a mass-produced donor cell line than to expand a separate batch of cells for every participant. For VitalCells, the banking model is autologous by design: a child’s own cells are preserved for that child’s potential future use. They are the child’s own cells, carrying the child’s own DNA.
Why expansion changes what gets banked
Collecting a newborn’s cord blood and tissue is only the first step. What happens to the sample after collection depends on how the bank processes it. Kevin described how his lab handles a sample once it arrives: the cord blood and/or cord tissue are processed in a controlled clean-room environment by highly skilled lab technicians, in a laboratory registered with the FDA as a tissue establishment, then placed in what he called “stem cell food,” the culture conditions that allow the cells to naturally self-replicate before they’re cryopreserved for long-term storage. Expansion can substantially increase the number of cells available for banking and future use. For context, a 2020 review of 914 registered MSC clinical trials found a median intravenous dose of 100 million cells per patient per dose, although doses varied widely across studies and this should not be interpreted as a universal clinical target (Kabat et al., 2020). How many cells a family ends up with depends less on the tissue than on when the cells are isolated from it: in one comparison, isolating the MSCs from fresh cord tissue and then freezing them recovered on average 8.4 times more viable cells than freezing the tissue whole and isolating afterwards (Briddell et al., 2011).
Why the price range makes more sense once you see what’s behind it
Kevin was direct about cost on the podcast: banking on the newborn side runs “less than five grand” as a starting point, with full-service plans, including active growth for a specific quantity of cells, running up to $20,000 or more depending on what a family chooses. That range confused Gabby at first, which is fair, until you see what it’s really paying for: a fixed processing fee for collection and initial expansion, and a separate, optional cost for growing and pre-paying for a larger, documented quantity beyond that baseline.
Where the research currently stands
Newborn banking gets discussed most often around injuries, but the conversation also turned to what is being studied more broadly. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are studied for their immunomodulatory and regenerative properties, and the research base is growing. What that research does and does not currently support is set out, condition by condition, in our post on what MSC clinical trials show about autoimmune conditions. It is research about administered cells, most of it using donor cells, and it is not a statement about what any banked sample can do for any individual.
That same honesty extended to regulation, a subject most companies in this space talk around rather than through. VitalCells banks cells and does not provide or market medical treatment. Any future clinical use of banked cells would be subject to the medical practitioner. In the United States, how a human cell or tissue product is regulated depends on factors including how the cells are processed. Any procedure using those cells happens with a licensed physician, not the company itself.
Why families choose to bank proactively
Most families who choose newborn banking make the decision before there’s any known medical need. Cord blood and cord tissue can only be collected at birth, so the decision has a fixed window. That’s the nature of banking: preserving cells now for a potential future use that may or may not arise. Birth also provides a one-time opportunity to collect umbilical cord blood and tissue that would otherwise be discarded, thus not requiring any additional procedures to attain stem cells for your child.
How to Choose a Newborn Stem Cell Bank
Your child’s day 1 stem cells are extremely valuable. It is worth understanding how your partnered stem cell bank will preserve that valuable asset with the highest quality and integrity. It is critical to understand the process and what access your child has to their stem cells. Not all MSCs are the same, and the quality controls a bank applies are part of what determines that access. Contact us if you want to talk through what banking would look like for your family.
References
Kabat M, Bobkov I, Kumar S, Grumet M. Trends in mesenchymal stem cell clinical trials 2004–2018: is efficacy optimal in a narrow dose range? Stem Cells Transl Med. 2020;9(1):17–27. doi:10.1002/sctm.19-0202
Zeng L, et al. Efficacy and safety of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Stem Cells Int. 2022;2022:9463314. doi:10.1155/2022/9463314
Briddell R, Litkenhaus F, Foertsch G, et al. Recovery of viable MSCs isolated from fresh umbilical cord tissue, measured after cryopreservation, is on average 8-fold higher when compared to recovery of viable MSCs isolated from previously cryopreserved umbilical cord tissue. Blood. 2011;118(21):4398. doi:10.1182/blood.V118.21.4398.4398
This blog is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. It does not make any express or implied claims about the effectiveness, safety, or suitability of any procedure or therapy mentioned. VitalCells does not provide medical treatment. All procedures are performed by licensed, independent physicians. Always consult your own physician before making any health-related decision.