Cord Blood Banking for Stem Cells - Anyone Done It?

Hi N.-

I didn't bank the cord blood from my son's pregnancy but I donated it to the blood bank. If you choose not to bqnk it, donating it might be a option to consider.

Good luck and Congratulations!

We banked my daughter's cord blood with a public bank. It is free to do. The deal is, the blood is there on the VERY SMALL chance that you might need it. But if there is another person with a terrible disease who is a match to your child, they will call you to see how healthy your child is to determine if she might need it in the future. If your child doesn't have a lifethreatening illness, they will give the cord blood to the desperately ill person in need.

For us, it was very rewarding to do this. I had recently lost a very dear friend to leukemia, so I felt that this was a way to honor him and help someone who might potentially need it.

I strongly reccomend public cord banking. For us, it was like our daughter's first act of giving to the community.

Here's more info on public cord banks: http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/i...

We chose to bank our daughter's cord blood with ViaCord because of my husband's family history of childhood leukemia. It is a very personal decision to make so please weigh all your options and look into several companies. I can say that our decision has given me great comfort in knowing that we took this "preventative" measure, just in case.

My daughter will be 14 this year and I don't believe this was even an option back then because I know my answer then would have been the same as my answer now... DO IT!! :D

Even if it is used to help someone elses child and not your own, it is well worth the extra hassle and minimal expense (compared to a full array of any other treatments a young patient might need).

Congratulations on your coming blessing!! :D

Huggles!!
~S.~

Hi N.,
I did it with my son and my brother did it with his daughter (we made sure we picked different places). I would do it. Can't hurt and it doesn't cost much.

Good luck.

Hi N.! Congratulations on your new little arrival soon! We are expecting our 4th next month...and will be banking this little one's cord blood...and have also banked our other 3's cord blood as well.

We felt that you can't go back and have a "do-over"...and would kick ourselves should the need ever arise to use it - hopefully that won't happen. It's kind of like insurance I guess...you buy it to be safe, but hope you never really need it.

We used CBR for the first 3 and are using them again. The process was SUPER easy! One word: NEGOTIATE!! They will negotiate prices with you if you initiate it! You can pit them against Viacord's prices too...make them give you a good deal on everything!! And if you can, pay the 18 years storage fees up front. It only helps your negotiation :) And check with your OB - they should have coupons for like $400 off.

Good luck!!

We had our first child in January and used CBR to collect and have his cord blood stored. We were very interested in it, and when our pediatrician strongly recommended it, we never gave it a second thought. Other than the cost, which may be prohibitive for some, I cannot think of any other reason not to do it. We think of it as an insurance policy in case, g-d forbid, we were to need it and while the uses of cord blood cells are still being researched, why would you not give yourself and your child the chance to have them work?

Hi N., my husband and I just had our first child in january, and banked his cord. His ped and my ob recommended it, and so we toured CBR and Viacord and found CBR to be the best. They are friendly, send monthly emails, send letters with new discoverys etc. Definitely one of the best decisions we have made. I think its a great idea and with all the research they do, it may come in handy. Its all beneficial to you and your famiLy. I'd call around and see which you feel comfortable with. Good luck, and congrats!

I banked my daughter's, and I am glad I did. I hope to not ever need it for her, but maybe for me. Right before her 1st birthday, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I'm convinced in the future, her stem cells will be able to help prevent me ever seeing a wheelchair. Luckily, she is half Asian, so the chances of her having M.S. is low.

At the time, I felt it was better to go ahead and do it than end up regretting not doing it.

N.

Hi N., I think it is a great idea. My husband & I did it with our youngest son.When we had our firstborn I wasn't aware of it yet. There will be an annual cost (storage fee)after the first year so just be aware of that (the price varies depending on what company you use)or if you are able to, you can pay for the 18yrs of storage in one lump sum. Although you hope you will never need the cordblood, it is such a comfort to know that it's there if you do. I can't imagine if something came up & I was asked if I had banked their cordblood because it could help and my answer was no. I did have alot of negative input from my inlaws because of thier political and religous views but I felt that this was a personal choice between me and my husband. I asked them to 'please respect our right to make choices about our children's future the same way that we do for you'.
(aka:to butt-out). We are very happy to know that it's there should we ever need it (or not). I'm sure your Doc has given you a package, just make sure you have everything in your bag when you go to the hospital, THEY NEED IT AT THE DELIVERY!!! Hope this helps you, Congrats!!! Wishing you a swift, comfortable delivery. :)

P.s. We used CBR but there are many companies out there with different prices.

Hi N., sorry this is so late in coming but we have both our boys cord blood banked. It is so worth the piece of mind, especially when it seems like there are always new diseases popping up. I didn't read all the comments to see if anyone mentioned this to you but you may want to check with the hospital you are delivering at to see if they have any requirements. We delivered at Saddleback 5 years ago and they told me that they would only use ViaCord. I think, they would use another company, but I don't remember what we had to do if we wanted to use someone other than ViaCord. Anyway we have both at ViaCord. So you may want to check with hospital first and then start narrowing your choices of banks. Good luck, hope you have a wonderful pregnancy and congrats on your new family!

Hi N. - I am a huge believer of banking your cord blood especially when you have 2 children. I believe it is a low cost insurance plan that you never know if you (or someone else in your family) will need it. God forbid you ever have to use it but wouldn't you just kick yourself if something happened to where someone could have been easily treated just by using the cord blood. They are discovering more uses and cures for it for it everyday. I would not pass up this opportunity to give you and your family that extra bit of security. It is well worth the money.

We used CBR, you can use my name, L. Cabanes if you want to talk to one of the reps there. BTW, It is really easy to do.

We did it, and with Viacord. I found them to be a litle more expensive but I felt like they were more trust worthy. But I think CBR is fine too. The chance of needing it is probably slim to none... but just in case... specially with so many diseases on the rise such as cancers... just to give you a little piece of mind. That's why we did it, and we will with all our future kids too.
Congratulations on your new arrival!!!

Hi N.,
We banked my son's cord blood last year. Like others who have responded here, we wanted "insurance" should he get sick. And your own stem cells are an EXACT match should you ever need them. We went with Neocells. They are much cheaper than CBR and the others. The man who started Neocells used to run CBR (or one of the big ones - I forget which now). Their mission is to provide affordable cord banking so all families have access to it. I have been incredibly impressed by their knowledge and customer service. They are extremely kind and helpful. We debated on going with them since there was that nagging thought of "if I pay more, it must be better. But as my dr. put it, it doesn't matter which company you go with - they all do the same thing. And Neocell's owner's background convinced me. Feel free to use my name if you contact them - C. Jimenez. They keep prices down by not doing the huge advertising that CBR and the others do so they rely mainly on referrals.

Good luck to you and congratulations!
C.

The chances of your child needing their own cord blood are very slim. Usually someone elses stem cells are more beneficial. That said, if your child later develops leukemia-stem cells may be useful. Plus, we don't know all the uses yet-who knows what the next 5 yrs will bring.

My son did use his own stem cells. But, we never froze cord blood. the cost was high, and you can donate to banks for free. St Joes has a program. I figured who knows, and maybe some one else has more of a use for it NOW. you need to weigh the pluses and minuses for your family.

N., we didn't know enough about it with out first child (I feel very guilty) but we banked our 2nd daughter's with CBR. We think that for the money it is totally worth it. I think we figured out that it will cost us under $3,000 for 20 years of banking. Do it, you will feel so good about doing it!! Slim chance we will need it, but it's there just in case.
Good luck and congratulations!

We've done it with all 3 of our boys. I think it's given me huge peace of mind knowing that they are there if we need them. CBR is a fabulous company. I can give you a coupon to use for a few hundred off if needed. Just let me know.

I banked both my kids blood with CBR. I think it is definitely worth it. My mother-in-law died of leukemia so I knew without a doubt I would be banking their blood just in case (with the hopes of never having to use it). I have a friend whose 6 year old died of leukemia a year ago. They didn't bank his cord blood and had to find donors for either stem cells or bone marrow. The process took about a year to find a match! Unfortunately, he didn't respond well to the donor and rejected the transplant. I know it is expensive, but I don't think you can put a price tag on peace of mind. The process itself was very simple and their stem cells are a 100% match so you don't need a donor(for the child's that you bank). It doesn't hurt the baby at all. After the baby is born and the umbilical cord is cut, the doctor squeezes out the remaining blood from the cord. You and the baby won't even notice anything going on.

I picked CBR because that is where my own OBGYN banked his children's and so did some of my friends. Their storage facility is located in Arizona so you don't have to worry about earthquakes or tornados taking out your investment. Their customer service was great too.

Good luck with your decision, I hope that helped!

We did it with our first child's cord blood. Thankfully, we haven't needed it. We paid for the whole thing (18 years of storage) up-front to minimize any confusion with annual fees.

With cancer so prevalent in our culture, we feel more comfortable having that as an "insurance policy". We chose CBR because they have backup generators for their freezers. Their customer service was exceptional, and they even worked with us to ship it from Italy! We were overseas at the time.