system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why isn't one's appendix removed at birth when all it can do is burst open and kill the person?

Is it the cost or safety issues?
gpt
1) Surgery on a baby or child is much more risky, as its much easier for them to die on the operating table.

2) Cost is a factor. Birth is already a pretty expensive process, and major surgery would just complicate that.

3) There is actually some new research that shows that the appendix might be back up storage for gut bacteria. Not critical, but not useless either.