Anyone doing Cord Blood Banking?

Tara415

I've been getting non-stop mesages from all the cord blood banking companies. It sounds like a good idea, but man is it expensive. Cancer runs in DH's family, so I'm included to do it. Has anyone done it? Recomendations on companies? Any other thoughts?

SamJustice

I won't be banking, but I'll be donating.

lmjt

The chances of your cord blood matching a family member is actually very small. If you decide to donate your cord blood, the blood center will help a family member find a match in the event cord blood is considered for treatment. 

I donated my cord blood and placenta last time, and will do so again. I believe you have to have a c/section to donate placenta, but I'm not positive. 

gymnst1013

No, we plan on delaying cord clamping and that doesn't leave the option for banking or donating.

Stellasmom

We banked last time, but decided to donate this time.

It sucks because I know that the blood we banked of Ds's is far more likely to help his sibling than himself, and the "perfect" thing to do would be to bank this baby's blood for Ds to potentially use, but it just costs too much to do it again.  At least with donation we get some recognition as donators if our child is ever in need of donated stem cells.

MrsRon

We banked DS's cord blood through StemCyte, and plan on doing the same for this baby.  Researchers and scientists are finding new uses for cord blood every day, and we feel like, since we do have the financial resources to make it happen, we would be remiss not to.  StemCyte was easy to work with, and they offered a significant discount to us since we're military, as well as a discount for paying for (I think) 18 years of storage up front.

julygal

If I were you, before I banked I would look into the types of cancer that runs in the family and see if they are types that benefit from cord blood.  Not all cancers use stem cell treatments.  Plus as a PP mentioned often family or the baby itself cannot use the cord blood though those statistics vary from the source. Also there is a good chance of insufficient amounts of cord blood were gathered and there isn't enough for the drs to use. There could be advances not yet apparent, but I decided that was not enough reason to spend the money.  We don't have a family history of disease that could be helped by cord blood, and we feel that there is a public bank for the off-chance that need should arise.  

This wikipedia article seems to do a decent job covering the basic pros and cons:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord_blood_bank

ETA:  A lot of people mention donating, which is a great option.  I know our hospital does not participate in a donation program, but there are a few national organizations that will send a kit to you and directions on how to mail the cord blood to their donation location.

homediva

We won't be. In my opinion, I feel like the cord blood banking companies are absolute vultures, baraging parents with threatening-style advertisements at a time when we are most vulnerable. ("Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued statements in the late 1990s opposing the use of for-profit banks -- and criticizing their marketing tactics.")

https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-baby/cord-blood-banking/the-cord-blood-controversy/

My advice is to read lots of information about it (not information provided by the companies) and make an informed decision, since it's something you have to be comfortable with! I am still reading up on it but that's my opinion today.

God willing none of us will ever have to think about it again after the decision has been made. We will most likely donate. In my opinion, the entire system should be donation based and given as needed, and the for-profit companies should not even be in the equation.

amy_rski

We banked with Viacord with DS and plan to do the same with this child.  It is a personal decision and we have the financial means to do so, so we will.  I don't think there is a donation program at our hospital - at least there wasn't when DS was born.

Tikat

We banked DD's cord blood and will be doing the same for DD2.

I went with Cryo-Cell for they offer the most comprehensive coverage at the best rate. I paid $1495 for DD and locked in at $999 for DD2 (They have sales every so often- $1295 at the moment and you can finance for $40 /mth). I think - while it seems like a lot of money- you can't put a price tag on saving your child's life. With the advances made just in the last 3 years  I feel confident that I made a good choice.

I'm feeling a bit iffy about donating- because you don't have a guarantee that it goes to help a person in need and doesn't end up in a research lab...

WhitePicketFence

We're not doing private banking, no. We donated DD's cord blood and plan to do the same with this baby.