The director of the department of health and senior services shall make publicly available, by posting on the department’s website, resources relating to umbilical cord blood that have been developed by the Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation, or a successor organization, which includes the following information:

(1) An explanation of the potential value and uses of umbilical cord blood, including cord blood cells and stem cells, for individuals who are or are not biologically related to a mother or her newborn child;

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(2) An explanation of the differences between using one’s own blood cord cells and using related or unrelated cord blood stem cells in the treatment of disease;

(3) An explanation of the differences between public and private umbilical cord blood banking;

(4) The options available to a mother relating to stem cells that are contained in the umbilical cord blood after the delivery of her newborn, including:

(a) Donating the stem cells to a public umbilical cord blood bank where facilities are available;

(b) Storing the stem cells in a private family umbilical cord blood bank for use by immediate and extended family members;

(c) Storing the stem cells for immediate or extended family members through a family or sibling donor banking program that provides free collection, processing, and storage where there is an existing medical need; and

(d) Discarding the stem cells;

(5) The medical processes involved in the collection of cord blood;

(6) Medical or family history criteria that can impact a family’s consideration of umbilical cord blood banking, including the likelihood of using a baby’s cord blood to serve as a match for a family member who has a medical condition;

(7) Options for ownership and future use of donated umbilical cord blood;

(8) The average cost of public and private umbilical cord blood banking;

(9) The availability of public and private cord blood banks to citizens of Missouri, including:

(a) A list of public cord blood banks and hospitals served by such blood banks;

(b) A list of private cord blood banks that are available; and

(c) The availability of free family banking and sibling donor programs where there is an existing medical need by a family member; and

(10) An explanation of which racial and ethnic groups are in particular need of publicly donated cord blood samples based upon medical data developed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration.