Umbilical Cord Blood Bank

Cord Blood Registry....Anybody do this?

My wife and I are having are first baby in about 6 weeks, were contemplating whether or not to do this "Cord Blood Registry" for $1800 bucks, then it's $120 a year where they store your baby's embilical cord, supposedly it could save your baby's life or another member of your familiy's life....anybody know anything about this?

Public Comments

1. It was cost prohibitive for us, but there was an alternative... Our local hospital does cord blood donations for free. With the parents' permission, they harvest the cord blood and donate it to someone who needs it. That way, it will be used for someone who needs it now instead of paying the fees to hold it just in case.
2. I would go ahead and make the investment, if I were you (unless it is just too cost prohibitive for you or you are planning on having several more children). When my son was 17, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He is doing fairly well right now (five years later) but he is not in complete remission. If he ever has to have a bone marrow transplant, he will have a problem, because he has a rare tissue type. I wish we had joined the Cord Blood Registry. It would have provided us another alternative. But the cost would have been too high for us when our son was born. I don't know if it is covered by insurance. You might want to talk to your obgyn about it further, for more details, or ask your local cancer hospital for more information. I'm sure they will be more than happy to answer questions you have. You might also try asking questions at certain cancer sites. I frequent a site that is primarily for discussion among leukemia patients. There are many knowledgeable people there who are very supportive and I know they would be delighted to try to answer questions for you or direct you to more information. The site is: http://www.newcmldrug.com And congratulations on your impending parenthood. Enjoy every moment of it. They grow up faster than you can imagine. It seems like yesterday when my son was an infant and I miss the little baby that he was.