Cord Blood

i didn't do it with any of my kids.

it wasn't available for my first child,
so i decide not to do it for the others

I mildly investigated it but it was very expensive, for a what if scenario.

M

hi L., of course its a personal decision, but IF you can afford it, i dont see why you wouldnt do it. just my opinion, of course....probably and hopefully you will never need it, but as i see it, it is another type of insurance. can you imagine if your child got one of the things that they can use it for, G-d forbid, and you opted for new tires or cable or a new porch or whatever instead? that was how we looked at it anyway (we had just gotten a new porch:)) ... plus, they are always finding new things they can use it for, they are even looking at it for diabetes now, which is soooo common and on the rise. we didnt do it for my first son, it was so new at the time, and i regret it. we did it for my next 2, and when i was deciding which company to use, i just copied off of my gyn, he used viacord for his baby, and that was good enough for me. they do research and development in addition to storage, the way he explained it, that is good because they get funding etc and are more secure..... yes, you will probably never use it, hopefully, but i cant imagine how i could live with myself if i needed it and it wasnt there, unless of course you really cant afford it. in that case, i would surely take comfort knowing that most kids without particular histories would probably be able to use some from a bank if needed. just weighing in with my opinion. take care and best of luck with your pregnancy and the new baby.

I did not bank either of my daughter's cord blood. I feel that if you have cancer or other diseases in the family then it is to your advantage. Otherwise, I feel it's not worth the money. I, knock on wood, have a very healthy family. My parents and aunts and uncles, cousins and such are still around. My grandmother lived to be 82 and my husband's grandmother will be 90 next month. I didn't feel a reason to bank it and I hopefully won't need it. I think if you have a history in the family that it would be a great idea to do just in case anything. Chances are the cord blood from the first can help the second child too and hopefully you won't need it for either one. I believe it's a personal choice and I wish you luck in whatever it is you choose to do.

I am surprised at the people who don't see the value of this including the medical community. I have known so many children who have died at young ages from cancer and all sorts of other diseases. I lost one friend when he was 8. Another when he was 15. Another the day before she turned 29. I know of a family now who has 3 children and 2 of them have some form of cancer.

We did not bank our first two sons' and I regret it. Our doctor back then even told us it "wasn't worth it". Now 8 years later they can cure so many more things with cord blood and having watched a friend's sister die from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma which is one of the things they have had success with I can't imagine not doing it. The thing too is usually the cord blood doesn't work for the child it was taken from. It is usually more beneficial to a sibling.

We banked our third son's cord blood and I told my husband that if we have another, I absolutely want to bank his or hers as well so that our youngest has a safety net too.

I know it's expensive but I look at it this way, you pay a large price in the beginning and then $125 or so a year to store it. While if you never end up needing it you might look at that money as wasted, WHAT IF heaven forbid something happens and you realize the cord blood could have saved your child's life?

I'm not trying to scare you but we just never know. I'd rather play it safe when it comes to my children.

You know I had a lady help me where I went through and she got me something like $350 off the collection fee I think it was and they were already cheaper than other places but seemed to have a great reputation. If you'd like I can try to find her name and number. Sometimes I also get "Tell a Friend" coupons from them for similar off. By going through them, we also locked our storage rate in so that with any future children we have, the storage price will always be the same.

Just let me know! ____@____.com

L.

I know this is strange...but 2 of my 3 children's Cord Blood is sitting in my Freezer currently. My oldest child's cord blood is with his Father's Best Friend in his freezer (long story - but I had to move from Boston to CT and couldn't risk it melting at the time). Other than that, I have had no issues with keeping it in the freezer - except of course the ocassional question: What is that?

My OB-GYN doctor was the 1st to suggest this to me and even prepared the cord in a medical bag and packaged it for me while I was in the hospital.

There of course are risk - like if the power goes out for more that 8 hours - or other things like that - however, as my doctor explained to me this could happen in any facility just as much at home.

So, if you don't mind having it in the back of your freezer, and know that it will be safe from anyone trying to eat it :-), I say save the $$$ and keep it there. Make sure you let the doctor know what you are planning to do with it and ask them to have it packaged (as if they are transporting a heart or liver) and you shouldn't have a problem. Hopes this helps and let me know your thoughts.

Hi L.,
The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend that parents store cord blood, nor does any other organization of medical authority. Remember that the doctors like William Sears' son who you see in their ads are paid endorsers.
Good luck with your decision

Hi L.,

We considered banking our daughter's blood, but weighed the cost against the likelihood that we would ever need to use it. It is an expensive insurance policy that you are likely to never need. We opted to donate her cord blood to a public bank. Because I am of hispanic origin, the cord blood has a good chance of being a good match for not one, but possibly many sick people. The public bank is available to everyone, so if the need ever arose, it is there too. I spoke with a few doctors and my midwife, and none felt that it would be worth the cost given our family history of childhood diseases that would benefit from cord blood banking (neither of us have any).

I guess it comes down to money. I felt that the annual fee would be better saved in her college fund - it was a lot of money for us to spend. If you have the money and it makes you sleep better at night, then I don't see why you shouldn't bank it. Just keep in mind that the sales pitch is designed to make you scared that this would be your only chance to save your child's life (in the very unlikely event that it ever came to that).

Good luck with your decision.

We never did it - though our friends did with their sons.

L. I banked the blood for my daughter and I am prego now due in Feb and won't bank for the second. This is a what if scenario and the blood of the first child is very likely to be a match for the other. So I won't do it, what I will do is donate it. I banked the first with Lifebank USA and if you donate to them the will extend a courtesy only to the child in case you ever need it. you can ask CRB if they have the same, or donate to a public bank which is available to everyone. Hope this helps.

O.

Hi L.,

We were just in that same boat. We banked our daughters cord blood in Feb 2005 with a Lifebank USA and I just had a baby boy in June 2008. It was tough deciding if we should bank the cord or not. Lifebank also now takes the placenta as well if you opt for an additional cost. When we had our daughter the cost for cord blood banking was reasonable, but when it came time for the birth of our son we couldn't believe how much the price went up. We didn't bank his cord blood. It wasn't because of the cost either. We spoke to our peditrican and he told us that it wasn't necessary as these cord banks are after money. Funny how when I questioned the banking place about if it was necessary to have both children banked I never got a return call regarding our concerns. BUT they did call several times telling me that it was close to due date and if I wanted to bank I needed to get paperwork filled out. I also received several emails about "sales" for banking. If I sent deposit I could save some money, but hurry the sale ends today! Peditrican told us that it was good we had our daughters and if my son needed to use it the match would likely match. He told us not to waste the money on it. It's to late to turn around now for us and at times I hope that I made the right decesion. I hope we NEVER need it.

Good luck in your decesion and congrats on your upcoming addition.

GOOD LUCK!