Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

DH and I have heard so much conflicting information and dont know what path to take with this one.

TIA!!
Jen

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

I wanted to very much .Then I did some research and was advised that if my child ever needed it, it would be available in the free bank and so I will donate it, but not bank it.

ETA- My Dr said she doesnt think its neccesary, and would only consider it if Luekemia ran in the family.

Message edited 2/4/2007 10:18:38 PM.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

I looked into the public banking through NY Blood and it stated that it was only available through certain hospitals

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We are leaning towards yes.

Our area isn't accepting donations anymore because of space issues, so we would have to either privately bank or not at all.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We don't have any of the conditions in either of our family lines. It's an expensive insurance policy that you hopefully will never need. We decided not to do it...

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We decided not to as well.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We are b/c diabetes runs in my dad's side of the family. They are currently working on a way to use the cord blood for that.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We are and we're using Viacord.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We are not.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We are doing it. We went with Viacord, I've heard better things about them than CBR.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

we are. I just can't imagine not having it if we ever need it. when you look at house and car insurance - it's actually much less expensive

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We are.... I'd rather pay the money and never need it. We went with CBR.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

we didn't do it.
what they don't tell you is if your child is sick you most often can NOT use that child's cord blood on itself. You would need to use a sibilings cord blood- so if you are only having 1 child- it potentially could be no good to that child as the disease could also be in the cord blood.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

we are, my DH works for a stem cell research company so we get a discount (even though its still expensive), but to us its worth it to have

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

we used CBR for our DS and will be using them again for our daughter this year..its a policy that you hope to never have to use but you never really know..
here is a tidbit of info too..

Common Misconceptions About Cord Blood Banking


Misconception: "Doctors would never treat the child with his or her own cord blood because it would contain the disease."
Fact: Thousands of autologous stem cell transplants (using one's own cells) are performed every year for diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and many solid tumors. Research from the Journal of Clinical Oncology reports that even with early-onset disease (within twelve months of birth), the child's stem cells are still recommended for use in transplantation.

In the study, autologous stem cell treatments for infants with acute leukemia were just as successful as allogeneic sibling transplants. Autologous cord blood stem cells have many advantages as a transplant source, including no risk of graft vs. host disease (GVHD-a leading cause of death for transplant patients), immediate availability, and low risk of the cells being contaminated with disease. In April 2001, a ten-month-old baby in Canada received the first-ever autologous cord blood transplant to treat retinoblastoma (eye cancer) that had spread to his spinal cord. His parent's foresight to preserve his cord blood provided him with his best chance for survival.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

Yes, we are banking both.

Stroke, diabetes and cancer run on either side of the family.

I would never want my kids to suffer like my Dad has suffered (a massive stroke at 57). Given our family medical history, it only made sense to bank both.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

For those that are seeking unbiased research on the topic, I found this website by a Dr. whose daughter passed away and now volunteers his time to providing parents with information on cord banking. It was extremely helpful for my husband and I when we were making this decision.

The website is:

http://www.parentsguidecordblood.com

Btw, we decided to use CBR. My husband works for a biotech company and he was very concerned if these companies would even be in business 20, 30, 40 years from now. He went through their finances and found that CBR has been profitable and their business plan is devoted to cord banking. On the other hand, Viacord has not been profitable since in business and their business plan is not devoted to cord banking, but actually bringing other drugs to market. Our Dr. also strongly recommended CBR.

Hope this helps!!

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We are not doing it this time and didn't do it with our son.

There are absolutely no diseases in our family that would make it worth while for us to spend such a huge amount of money on CBS.

I prefer to put that money in their college funds.

Re: Cord Blood Storage-Are you Ladies Doing It?

We're doing it and using CBR. Heart disease runs rampant in DH's family. My doctor is all for it. I wish it were cheaper though.