"If I want to tap into a cord blood bank later, I felt that I should do my part and donate": Mutualism in women's accounts of umbilical cord blood donation.

Umbilical cord blood, the blood remaining in the umbilical cord and placenta after birth, is rich in hematopoietic, or blood, stem cells. Since 1989, cord blood has been used clinically to treat various conditions. including leukemia, lymphoma, and aplastic anemia. Given these potential uses of cord blood, birthing persons can opt to save cord blood in a private bank for a fee or donate it to a public cord blood bank. In this paper, we draw on qualitative interviews with 76 women who donated or wanted to donate to Canada's public cord blood bank to explore their reasons for cord blood donation and the meanings they ascribe to cord blood donation. Using mutualism as a theoretical lens, our analysis illuminates how decisions to donate cord blood are informed by complex considerations of the benefits to both unknown recipients and birthing donors and their child-to-be, both of whom are constructed as donors whose contributions to the public bank position them as worthy and deserving of future withdrawals. We further suggest that women's accounts of their decisions to donate cord blood enact a community characterized by an ethic of mutual care. Our analysis provides insight into the ways in which donating brings cord blood donors into relations with other social actors, including their child-to-be, unknown cord blood recipients, and a broader social body or community of imagined donors.