Who Can Bank Umbilical Cord Blood ?
Who Can Bank Umbilical Cord Blood ?
Acording to current statistics only three percent of new parents are currently opting to bank their newborn child’s umbilical cord blood. The main reason for this appears to be down to the cost involved. It can currently cost from $1500 to $2000 for the initial collection and processing of the umbilical cord blood, plus annual storage fees which range from $50 to $150. If you have the financial means and can afford to bank you child’s umbilical cord blood then you should definitely be considering it. The potential benefits are practically without limit. There are even some people claiming that cord blood stem cells could be the answer to immortality. Of course this is just hype but it isn’t totally untrue. There are definitely real implications that stem cell research will lead to the eradication of some diseases.
Donating umbilical cord blood for no cost
Anybody can choose to donate umbilical cord blood following the birth of their child for no cost. The umbilical cord blood stem cells are then placed in a public cord blood bank that can be used by anyone. This is in some ways similar to an organ bank however it is significantly more effective as stem cells do not need to be an exact genetic match for them to be used. The question is if public cord blood banks can be used to benefit so many people why would a person decide to use a private cord blood bank ? The primary reason a family might want to store their own child’s cord blood privately would be if they already have a family member who has or had cancer or another disease that could be treated using a stem cell transplant, or because they want to ensure the stem cells are available to them in the future.
Umbilical Cord Blood and The U.S. Stem Cell Research and Therapeutic Act
The Stem Cell Research and Therapeutic Act was enacted to create a national umbilical cord blood program, which provides federal funding for the collection, storage of cord blood to be used in blood cell transplants. The program holds a national inventory of 150,000 cord blood units for public use and maintains a registry network which is linked to the national marrow donor registry, which is administered by the National Marrow Donor Program.
Filed under Cord Blood And Stem Cell by on Jul 5th, 2010. Comment. 
Leave a Comment
Comments on Who Can Bank Umbilical Cord Blood ?
Great article! However i would like to add that if you wish to obtain cord blood from a public bank, that it is not free and is actually much more costly than banking privately. Just want to encourage everyone to educate themselves before deciding!
Yap! Its true that for this case every body should be educated first,Then the difference between private cord blood bank and public cord blood bank you know better if no then follow:http://www.cryo-cell.com/services/private_vs_public.asp. Any way its a good article and very informative.Thanks for the useful informations.Keep it up.
I so agree that info on cord blood banking is confusing and it’s hard to navigate all the options….It looks like banking with a private bank would total about $4000 over the 20 year storage period, but there are banks that have free annual storage so the total is much less….It’s easy to be skeptical about cord blood banking, unless it’s your child who has CP. The best option is to find an FDA approved and AABB accredited bank that is less expensive…..
I don’t know why some banks are so much more expensive. As I understand it, cord blood processing is regulated and so, though some of the techniques may differ from bank to bank, the FDA approved and AABB accredited banks all comply with the same standards…….
Now there is an FDA approved study going on for cord blood; a real clinical trial to demonstrate its value….
Check out this non-commercial website with tons of info on cord blood companies, private and public, and also has pricing : http://www.parentsguidecordblood.org. It lists private cord blood banks that are FDA approved and AABB accredited , as well as info on donating to a public bank. See banks that have free annual storage for the whole 20 years.
hope this helps : )
Umbilical cord blood holds the key to your newborn’s stem cells.
Cord blood, or umbilical cord blood, is blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta at the time of birth. This blood has typically been discarded following delivery. But once scientists discovered it was a rich source of stem cells, umbilical cord blood became a viable substitute to bone marrow in thousands of successful transplants.