BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

DH's coworker brought this up with DH the other day as did our OB's office and gave us literature for Viacord.

DH wants me to do some research on this and review the pros and cons. I had heard of it before being pregnant from seeing threads on LIF, but that is about all I know.

If you did cord banking after you LO was born, why? Who did you use? What are the yearly costs involved? Is there a better company over another?

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

TIA!

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

There was a very good thread about this, not too long ago.

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

we used CBR because they are the only company (back in may) that offered cord blood AND cord tissue- in my opinion, if a child needs help because of an organ, blood wont regenerate to grow the organ, but the tissue will...

it was kinda pricey, and dont get me wrong we arent rich, but we felt it was important to do both

good luck!!

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

We banked DS' cord blood because we felt that we needed to, and never wanted to have that "what if" feeling. We used Viacord. It was pricey, but most companies are. I think it was $1,700 for the initial banking, and $125 a year.

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

Nahh... after some research, we decided the chance that we would actually use our first kid's cord blood on HIM were too low.

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

we used Maze and we were very pleased with their services- they were very informative when I called, not pushy, their pricing was by far the best- $2,000 TOTAL for collection, processing and storage for 20 years vs. being charged yearly

plus they are based in NY (White Plains)

eta- for us it was a big expense but we never considered NOT using it- my mom is a pediatric nurse and seen it work- plus it seems like everyday they are finding new ways to use it to cure diseases- we looked at it as an insurance policy for our child

Message edited 12/31/2010 2:28:59 PM.

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

We banked with Viacord. I was very happy with their customer service and everyone I spoke to. For the first year, we paid a monthly fee and after that it is a yearly storage fee. They do call us every so often with update on studies that have been done using cord blood and to us it was worth it.

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

Message edited 6/28/2011 7:12:51 PM.

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

we banked with cord blood registry (CBR) it's expensive, and the research isn't totally there yet, but we looked at it as an insurance policy...you hope you don't need it but you'll be glad you have it if you do.

My doc said...will it break your bank to do it? we said no...and he said then we should. I would hate down the line for the research to get there..and then have something happen and then know that we didn't do it b/c of money...

It's piece of mind in my book...

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

We banked my DS and DD's with CBR....We are on the fence about doing it for because we are not sure if it is overkill being siblings can be potential matches...

For us, as others have said I'd rather have it and not ever have to use it, then to find out heaven forbid that 20 years down the road something one of my DC's are afflicted with could have been cured and possibly a life saved for something I wish we had done...

With technology being what it is now, I can only imagine what strides we will have made in years to come...

I only checked out CBR and Viacord and just got a feel of who I felt more comfortable with....

Is the initial cost expensive ? Yes I suppose, but so is all of the rest of the baby paraphenalia that comes along with having a baby, more than half of it which only gets used for a limited period of time...So for us it was a no brainer

I believe we payed around 2k initially and then the annual fee is $125 ...

Some do public banking ( which I didn't know about initially) but may have checked that out as well

Message edited 12/31/2010 5:06:02 PM.

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

i didn't with DS but did with DD but only because she is my last child.

i have 2 friends whose kids are very sick with diseases that came up later in life. both banked the cord blood. neither can use it because the disease is "in" the cord blood. it's useless to them and that's why i think it's not worth it overall even though i did it.

Re: BTDT Moms: Cord Blood Banking...

We used CBR with both of ours. We did it as "insurance" that we will hopefully never use. We also had a friend's son diagnosed with Leukemia while I was pregnant with #1, so it was a bit real for us.

My OB recommended CBR and ViaCord as the best, but he did say that the smaller companies may go bankrupt, they will just be bought up by one of those two.


I think our first was $1700 and $99/year - in 2005. #2 got a banking discount, so it was $1500-1700 and $125/year in 2007.