Cordblood Banking - What Do You Think?

I think if you have the extra money it's a great thing!

Are they still scamming people with that? Cord blood may be able to help a sibling for something but I don't think it has happened too often. Do your research and not look at what the companies are saying. Donate it and that way it may go to use or research.....who knows?

Hi D., banking cord blood is such a good idea.we banked our son's with ViaCord, they are the only company that is able to reproduce the cord blood cells so you have enough to treat multiple adult diseases. Other companies can only store what you have and will only treat a diseased child 5 year old and under! I banked it for me and my family in the future. They have been able to cure cancer, alzheimers, and a variety of diseased that effect us as seniors. It's not just in case your child gets sick! I would always do it!!!

I asked my OB and he said that is represented everything that was wrong with our society (playing on parents fears and charging a lot of money). He also said that in his option there was something wrong with the blood to begin with so why would you want reintroduce the blood that had already turned bad on the child.

D.,

I am a BIG advocate for banking cord blood. I have 2 boys and I only banked my first sons, which can be used for either of my children as they are from the same father. The cord blood in most cases can be used for either my husband or I and in some cases to the grandparents (depending on the problem).

Several years back, one of my neices ended up with a rare cancer. She had to have all sorts of blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants and all sorts of stuff. Well, when there was nothing else they could think of to do in order to save her life they realized that they could use the cord blood from my younger neice to help stabalize her blood (or something to that nature). She is a teenager now and you would never know she had any problems! She is cancer free for 5 years now!!! I don't know exactly how they used the cord blood, but her sisters cord blood saved her life!!!!

My n-laws as well as myself use Viacord! I have several friends that have used other companies, but ended up having their cord blood transfered to Viacord. It is $100 a year or you can pay a discounted rate for 5 or 10 years at a time. I cannot remember what the upfront cost is, but it is worth every penny!!!

This is like purchasing home owners insurace in a manner of speaking. You don't complain about spending the money because you know if something does happen, you are covered. Same with life insurance - god forbid something happens, but at least your family is taken care of. You can't think of it as an expense, but an insurance policy.

Good luck!
Sam

I highly recommend it..I did this with my daughter 6 yrs ago and used Cryo-Cell...mostly b/c there fees were reasonable and (most importantly to me) this company is local in FL (Oldsmar).

My opinion on this is: You only have 1 opportunity to do this and the unknown potential for wonderful uses of cord blood, so why not?

Best wishes to your sister in making this decision.

We use CryoCell. The lab is in the Tampabay area, we liked that it was close to us, we visited the facility and saw the cleanliness, organization etc. We banked our 1st childs cord blood because we have alot of medical issues like cancer, heart problems, scoliosis etc. that we thought if ever he needed it, it would be there. It's not a cure all - but I just kinda think of it as an insurance policy. Most people that buy insurance policies never end up using them, We pray we never have to, but it's there just in case.
Also - we donated our 2nd child's cord blood to them for research and plan to do the same for the next child. They send you the kit for your doc or midwife to administer and you send it back prepaid FedX.

D.,
My OB recommended it to us. He said especially if you have cancer in your family.
We didnt end up doing it....long story, he came early & we werent prepared. So i dont know of a company. I didnt realize how affordable it was & now I regret not doing it.
H.

I considered this when I had my daughter (now 10 months). If she or her husband have a family history of medical problems, I would say consider it. Otherwise paying to have a specific baby's cord blood stored is a waste of money in my opinion. However, I would talk to the doctor/hospital and see if they have a public bank donation system. They are usually free to have your child's blood stored, and it can be used to help multiple other children who might need it. Personally I offered my daughter's cord blood for donation, but there wasn't any such system at the hospital I used.

- A.

Hi D.,
Banking cord blood is a wonderful thing to do however it can be a little costly. Even if your sister can't afford to privately bank the cord blood she should look into donating it. I am sure her OB's office will have references for her if that is an option she would consider. That way it is not going to waste, cord blood is a very precious thing!

J.

We couldn't afford it at the time... (especially since there is a yearly fee for storage.) One of my doctor's said it wasn't a guarantee and some people have better luck find a match w/ the public registry. I donated ours to the public registry. You can even specify whether or not you want it used for research or just to save lives... (or both)

If your family has a high risk for various cancers, you may consider it... If not, don't feel bad for skipping it. It's a huge expense. (and with all of these companies going out of business...I'd be afraid of shopping around for a cheaper price)

My cousin banked her daughter's cord blood. Her son had significant issues, they didn't have cord blood available, which doctors told her could have saved him. She uses ViaCord and is very happy with it. She had it on her baby registry, so people could choose the gift amount.

We read about it for our daughter, but ultimately decided that we were low-risk and the service is expensive.

I looked into it with my daughter. Had collected all of the info. Ended up not doing it for 2 reasons. cost & I was still deciding when my daughter was born 6 weeks early.

I had all of the info. Did a posting to give it away, so someone insterested wouldn't be harrassed by the companies like I was. I ended up throwing it all away.

May sure they have power back up especially if you go with the company her in this area. I have a friend who has their son's stored there.

My husband's philosophy is you are expecting problems if you bank the blood. He says I'm the pessimist !!!

Beaware- the stem cells have a limited shelf life. I think it is 15 years.