Are any of you planning on doing this? What company do you think you'll use. Our neighbor's two-year-old was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, and they told us that they wished they had stored her cord blood.
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Re: Cord Blood Banking
I am definitely seriously considering it. They are discovering more and more diseases that can be cured or treated with stem cells all the time, and I think having them available for not only our baby depending on the condition it is needed for, but also their siblings and other family members is an invaluable resource. I have quite a few health conditions that run in my side of the family including various autoimmune diseases, so I think that is another reason I am in strong support of this. For us it was mostly a matter of affordability. Luckily, I have done some research and there is an option for Military members with the Military Cord Blood Bank. They reduce the initial fee from $2125 to just $550, and then it is $125 per year in storage fees after that which is just $10 and some change a month. It is still a lot of money, but I feel strongly that it may end up being more than worth it some day in our family's future. I do believe the company, StemCyte, that supports the Military Cord Blood Bank also offers special discounts for families of Police, Firefighters, etc. as well as medical proffesionsals but I am not sure how much the discount is, but it maybe worth checking out. Here is their website info:
https://militarycordbloodbank.com/
https://www.stemcyte.com/our-pricing-and-programs
Also if you decide not to go with private banking for the cord blood I would highly recommend donating the cord blood to a public bank and then it can possibly help another child in need, may even save someone's life. Maybe someday everyone will donate and there won't be as much as a need for private banking. If we decide not to private bank we will definitely be donating. Anyways hope some of the info helps you in your research to make the right decision for your family. Best of luck!
Thanks for that info! DH is a firefighter, so I may call and see what kind of discount they offer
I've been on the fence about this since the day we got our BFP and saw an ad for it on WTE...my biggest hold up is the price; and neither SO or I are any sort of military/police/fire/EMT/etc, so we'd end up paying out the nose, and it's just not something we can afford right now...especially not going from 2 to 3 in the family.
I wonder if when you donate if, God forbid you should need cord blood in the future, you can mention to them that you donated, and to where, if they can possibly look you up and provide you with your own stored cord blood...? Now wouldnt THAT be cool?! I've heard of people with rare blood types donating a lot so that they can ensure at least a possible storage of matching blood should they ever need it...
This is just one of many posts I've read on here about this: https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/26140365.aspx
I would never consider banking (I think it's a waste, for the reasons listed in the link above). I do think donation is a great thing if you're able to. A lot of hospitals don't allow it. It's something we'll ask about, for sure.
While I don't think it is a complete waste, I decided to not doing it after a LOT of consideration. I have friends that are doctors plus I took prenatal classes at a cord banking site. After all of this, we decided to not go with it. My hospital does not donate. Only one does in our area which is crazy for a big city.
Another thing to keep in mind, the research shows which they talked about at the classes, if you are a minority, you are in a better place to need the banking. FYI
If my hospital does it (haven't checked yet) we will be donating it to the red cross. Great idea.
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