Umbilical Cord Blood Bank

Is banking umbilical cord blood old news or the way of the future?

With its use in stem cell research, will banking cord blood be a new craze or maybe even a necessity? And if it is up & coming, then will insurance companies or health care providers cover the cost of it? I'd love to hear from some professionals thanx...

Public Comments

1. Most people want to bank their kid's blood "in case" one day they may need a transplant, etc. Using the stem cells in the umbilical cord may hel with that if you need it one day. However, the chances that you kid would need that and that it would be available quickly enough is really a long shot. We chose not to bank our sons, and I think we made the right decision.
2. It's an interesting concept . . especially if there are known diseases within the family . . however there are some limitations to banking the cord blood . . chief among them is that in some cases the cord blood harbors the same disease (if this is intended to be saved for all disease types) which means the cord blood for the patient won't work. Another problem is that the cord blood is okay for a young child . . but as you age your body grows and it will need more of the stem cells than the umbilical cord can provide . . so in the case of an adolescent or adult . . there isn't enough of the cord blood. So . . there are some problems with it and people interested in banking the umbilical cord need to do the research and think about it . . it may be better to donate the umbilical cord blood rather than store it. Donate Cord Blood http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/index.html
3. http://www.bmtinfonet.org/webcastcord/ That is the link to a web cast that will be on 9/10/08 that will be discussing the updates of cord blood. It is from BMT Infonet (bmt stands for bone marrow transplant.. the site is a support site for transplant patients) I used 2 units of cord blood in my stem cell transplant, both from the public donation banks, so maybe I am biased. I think, or hope atleast, that the trend will go towards donating to the public banks. Private banking is expensive and it may never get used. Donating to the public bank, it is very likely that it will get used. I dont know that I would ever say I dont think you should be able to privatly bank, but if no one donated to the public bank, I wouldnt have been able to have my transplant. I do feel that all hospitals should be set up to atleast accept public donation. I also think that there should be some guidelines or even possibly laws that if the parent doesnt privatly bank, it goes to the public bank rather than the biowaste. I doubt insurance will cover private banking in the near future. That would drastically raise all women's insurance and maternity insurance. Unfortunatly, there isnt a whole lot of room for the prices to go down. I know its a lot, but its pretty much legit expense. I do know that my insurance (Medicare and Medicaid) paid for the blood bank services on my cord blood from the public bank.
4. Umbilical cord blood banking is here to stay, but hopefully in the future accessibility will open up through donation banks. Many families do not have the financial means to pay for this "safety net" but for those who need it, donation can be a feasible route.