Cord Blood Registry - Should I?

Question

It's very expensive. Should we do it? I understand the benefits but what are the odds you will need this? Is it worth it? Did you do it with your baby?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

I looked into it and decided against it. My doctor said odds were so low that it would not be worth it. You might ask if your hospital takes them as donation. You won't benefit, but someone else might.

Answer 2

I am planning on doing it, but then again my mother offered to pay for it. If it weren't for that I wouldn't be able to afford it. =/ So if you really can't afford it, then don't. It's not worth it if you're spending money you don't have in order to do it, in my opinion. :)

Answer 3

i did not do it and my babies are just fine. if you have enough money you can do it

Answer 4

When i was pregnant i asked my doctor what he thought of storing the cord blood. He said if I had extra money to throw around that would be great. If not, and my baby gets sick, the doctors will find the treatment regardless if you have cord blood or not. They will not deny medical care in that type of situation

Source(s):

doctors advice

Answer 5

I'm donating my baby's cord blood. My family has no immediate need for banking it and I really don't trust that it will keep.

Answer 6

You can do it for no charge if you donate it so others can benefit. I think it's too expensive, especially if your child will have siblings that will have the same genetic makeup. Big decision. Good luck.

Answer 7

I agree that it's expensive but there are payment plans which make it less expensive.Knowing that the cord blood stem cells are there for us should we need it definitely makes us feel better however. It's like other types of insurance. We have car insurance but we hope we won't crash our car. We have house insurance but hope that nothing bad will happen to it. That's how we view it.
We are planning on banking with this pregnancy - definitely.

Source(s):

www.cordblood.com

Answer 8

We are considering the same question - should we bank the cord blood? With the potential of stem cells these days both Dh and I felt that we should definitely do this. According to this one website, what stem cells can do is pretty great.

Here are the advantages of using cord blood vs. bone marrow:

- Harvesting umbilical cord blood poses no risk to mother or child, whereas a bone marrow donor must undergo anesthesia and is exposed to the risk of infection.
- Umbilical cord blood can be stored in cryogenic freezers, ready for use as soon as it is needed, whereas the process of contacting and testing donors listed in a registry takes weeks to months.
- Because the stem cells in cord blood are more primitive than those in bone marrow or peripheral blood, they carry much lower incidence of graft versus host disease (GVHD). Thus, cord blood transplants do not require a "perfect match" between the donor and the patient.

And here are some reasons for private banking (donating can be tough to do because it can be hard to find a facilty to accept it)

One is that, as today's children grow up and some of them develop cancer as adults, autologous (self) cord blood transplants will become more common. The reason is that pediatric cancers and adult cancers are completely different diseases at the cellular level (to learn more about cancer look up the National Cancer Institute). While pediatric cancer patients rarely receive autologous transplants, among adult cancer patients the autologous transplants are more common than transplants from donors.

Secondly, recent news reports constantly announce new medical advances using stem cells. Future applications will probably include tissue repair to various organs of the body.
Another factor families should consider is whether the odds given for the "average baby" apply to you. Some families do have a higher predisposition to cancer and immune disorders.

Finally, if your family, especially your children, are of mixed ethnic background, it may be impossible to find an adult bone marrow donor who is a perfect match. In that event, cord blood from even a partially matched sibling would be invaluable.

Source(s):

www.parentsguidecordblood.com