The latest gadget, jewelry, or toy still holds a place on holiday wish lists. However, Americans, particularly millennials, want gifts that are more in line with their values.

According to a recent *on-line survey among approximately 2,200 US adults, 79 percent said they want the gifts they give to their family this holiday season to better reflect with their values.

According to the survey, 54% of millennials said that they would prefer to receive or give gifts that have more value than their material possessions. When asked if the costs of gifts were comparable, they were offered the option to choose between experience gifts, gifts that protect their health, or donations to charity. Americans would rate experience gifts as the most valuable, followed by gifts that can help them protect their health, and then third-placed by donations to charity.

Cord blood banking, which involves the collection of blood from a newborn’s umbilical canal that contains valuable, pristine stem cells and is stored at birth for future use, may be one such gift that resonates with millennials, as they begin to plan for their families. After learning about cord blood banking, 68% of respondents said they would recommend it to expectant parents.

“The moment of birth presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture and preserve a newborn’s stem cell-rich cord blood, but 95 percent of valuable cord blood is discarded. Expecting parents should understand that cord blood stem cells have the potential to help treat many diseases. Arming parents with information about the value of cord blood can help them make the right decision for their family,”Frances Verter is the founder and director at the non-profit Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation.

More than 40,000 cord blood stem cells have been used to rebuild healthy blood and immune systems in transplants. It is currently being researched for its potential in regenerative medicine. This could be used to treat brain injury and hearing loss as well as congenital heart defects.

Heather Brown, vice-president of Scientific and Medical Affairs at Cord Blood Registry explains. This is the oldest and largest family cord blood bank, with more than 700,000 units. “Preserving a baby’s newborn stem cells may give that child access to his or her own cells for potential future regenerative medicine uses and your baby isn’t the only one who may benefit. Depending on different factors, preserved newborn stem cells can potentially be used by siblings and parents.”

A gift of cord blood banking could be the perfect gift for this holiday season, given the progress in research.

Visit www.abc.com to learn more www.cordblood.com.

*This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of AMAG Pharmaceuticals from November 28-30, 2017 among 2,196 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The online survey does not use a probability sample, so it is impossible to estimate the theoretical sampling error. Contact us for complete survey methodology and weighting variables. [email protected]