Umbilical Cord Blood Bank

How much does it cost to bank the baby's cord blood?

I see ads all over the place for companies that bank cord blood, but nothing about the average cost of this. Has anyone looked into it and know how much it costs typically?

Public Comments

1. 1500 bucks
2. I think it's expensive up front, not sure exactly but I'm guessing $1200 to $2400, and then they charge you a storage fee of around $500 per year. Sorry I'm not exact, but you can request a brochure of some prices from several companies and compare. I think it's sad they'll let you donate your cord to someone else, (not that donating it is bad) but not keep it for your family free of charge. Take care!
3. We went with Viacord, the most cost is in the first year because of the collection and transport fee. The cost for the first year is $2,050. You don't have to pay again until next year and the cost is then $125/year to store the cord blood. You can pay in full up front, but they also offer a payment plan to break-up some of the payments over an extended period of time. It's one of those things, if you can afford it, it is a good thing to do. It's like an extra insurance plan, if something does come up in the future, you know you did everything in your power to protect your child from possibly treatable diseases. But it is a little controversial, exactly how much the cord blood can actually do to treat disease. I have done a little more research, and found that they do actual perform life-saving procedures in the U.S. using Cord Blood. "What the storage firms' promotions don't say is that the vast majority -- about 3,500 -- of cord blood stem cell transplants have been done using cells from unrelated donors from public banks. About 300 transplants have involved sibling donors while 14 have been done using a child's own cells, said Dr. John Wagner, Scientific Director of Clinical Research of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota." "Doctors say that if parents donate their children's cord blood to a public bank, there is a high probability it will be used. There are only about 20 public banks in the country but they can only work with a limited number of hospitals because receiving and processing the donations is expensive. A bill introduced in the Senate last October would expand public cord blood banking. "
4. I did a lot of research on this and it is about 1500-1800 a year depends on who you go with. They let you make monthly payments, but being an RN I was able to ask a lot of different Dr.s about their opinion about this and if they would recommend it, and all of them said no. There is no Dr at this time that would do this procedure, because there is not enough research to protect them if something bad happens. I called bonfils about donation and they said that they have so much that they just toss it. I also took care of a patient who had West Nile and was quad, and had been for about 6 years. When his daughter had a baby they wanted to use the cord blood to help him, I mean what did he have to loose and No Dr. in the USA would do it. So I decided it was not a good investment for our family. Sorry I know this is more info then what you asked for but hopefully it will help you to make a decision when you get all the info. good luck and God bless you!