Did u bank cord blood - why/why not?

nygrl79

Need opinions please.  I know the companies say they will bank fraternal twins cord blood, but I wonder how realistic it really is that it will be usable and not contaminated with the other twin's blood? 

mrskimmieD

I banked our kids cord blood.  For us, we never wanted to look back and have any regrets about not doing it if God forbid something had happened to either of our children.  I know only a small percentage of people actually end up using the banked cord blood but we just didn't want to chance it, especially if we can financially afford it.

I know a few people have said that they found studies showing that you don't get a high count of blood cells from banking twins.  that was not the case for our two.  My daughter was off the charts for a singleton birth and my son's were the average amount that is collected for a singleton birth.

If you have any questions about the process or anything like that, you can PM me.

lgurian

i donated ours. it cant be used for very much, the percentage of people that use it is very low and it is really expensive. i figured by donating hopefully they can find more things to do with it, or they can use it for someone that needs it now. 

jalaiaa

mrskimmieD:

I banked our kids cord blood.  For us, we never wanted to look back and have any regrets about not doing it if God forbid something had happened to either of our children.  I know only a small percentage of people actually end up using the banked cord blood but we just didn't want to chance it, especially if we can financially afford it.

I know a few people have said that they found studies showing that you don't get a high count of blood cells from banking twins.  that was not the case for our two.  My daughter was off the charts for a singleton birth and my son's were the average amount that is collected for a singleton birth.

If you have any questions about the process or anything like that, you can PM me.

This exactly! I've heard that it is something you should do if you can afford, but that you shouldn't take out a loan or anything because it's something you're not likely to ever use. We got plenty of blood from each twin.  

 

ahava2005

Nope.

My husband is a nurse practioner in hemotology oncology.  None of his coworkers, oncologists, or anyone on that unit banks cord blood.

The cost to store it far far far outweighs the tiny probability that you would ever need it.  He has done treatments with cord blood and they rarely work and you need from multiple donors anyway if it is an adult...so you would only be protecting from the slight possibility that your child would have cancer in the first 8 years of their life.

It wasn't even a question for us.  Waste of money. 

If you would like to DONATE it, that is something different.  But I would never $$ to store it for myself. 

Kittycat196

I called to try to donate our twins cord blood- and was told they do not accept it from twins because for twins there are too many stringent rules so they just dont do it. However they were more than willing to let us bank our twins blood for the high cost we would have to pay of course.

Kittycat196

I called to try to donate our twins cord blood- and was told they do not accept it from twins because for twins there are too many stringent rules so they just dont do it. However they were more than willing to let us bank our twins blood for the high cost we would have to pay of course.

Kittycat196

I called to try to donate our twins cord blood- and was told they do not accept it from twins because for twins there are too many stringent rules so they just dont do it. However they were more than willing to let us bank our twins blood for the high cost we would have to pay of course.

I

Temp159135562506975

i donated my singleton's cord blood and wanted to donate the twins but they wouldn't even take it b/c they say they often don't get enough to be worth the effort.... yet they are happy to take money to bank it.

here's a great thread with info about banking/donating - this nestie is "in the know" and posted this a while ago- i saved it b/c it was great info you don't often see.  And even on the Dr. Oz show the expert they had on said donation was the way to go... and if everyone donated it would be like regular blood- much more easily avail to everyone when needed.

https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/26275911/ShowThread.aspx#26275911

 

groovygrl

it really sucks about the no donation w/ twins thing

I would've donated but since we couldn't, I left it up to my husband. He wanted to bank it (I don't think he did a lot of research but his siblings all did their kids & that sort of made his decision I think) and I wasn't going to say no just based on principle & then someday god forbid be in the small percentage of ppl who could use it... we could afford it so we did it & I don't regret it even if it goes to waste. Maybe someday it could go toward a public bank if our kids dont need it. And it isnt directly related but my dad died from leukemia 8 weeks after the twins were born so some of the potential cord blood uses really hit home for us even if they're few & far between.  

CER+MEL

According to my OB, your own cord blood is not likely to help you.  A sibling's has a better shot, but even then there are very few conditions for which cord blood can be of use until more research is done. The companies that bank the blood are making loads of money off of parents' fears and will likely never give you anything in return even if, God forbid, your child becomes sick.  If there's enough to donate, that's what we plan to do.  If everybody did that, it seems cord blood would be that much more available and valuable.