In our newest episode of The Future of Surrogacy, I sat down with Korbet Annis of Vital Cells. I had met Korbett at the latest SEEDS conference and walked into the conversation assuming stem cell banking was basically the same as cord blood banking.I was very wrong.

So many of you spend a tremendous amount of time educating intended parents before delivery, so we wanted to make sure you also know the difference between the two.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why cord blood banking and newborn stem cell banking are not the same thing
• What agencies should know before intended parents start asking questions
• The unique legal and logistical considerations when a baby is born through surrogacy
• How agencies can easily introduce this topic into their intended parent journey without adding more work to their team

As surrogacy professionals, you don’t have to become stem cell experts. But as the guide for intended parents, you want to make sure they know what options exist before delivery—because once the opportunity passes, it’s gone forever.

If your agency is always looking for ways to provide a better experience and better education for intended parents, I think you’ll find this conversation fascinating.

On a personal note, my unexpected takeaway from this episode was learning about the potential role stem cells may play in reducing inflammation for adults as well. I rabbit-holed after the recording and wanted to share two articles I found helpful: NIH/PubMed + Duke Health.