The Choice of Private Cord Blood Banking or Public Donation
Private Cord Blood Banking
In private cord blood banking, also called "family cord blood banking", cord blood is collected, processed, and stored for a fee for the exclusive use of the child or family that provided the cord blood. Hundreds of thousands of expectant parents have chosen to bank their babies' cord blood in order to ensure that their child’s cord blood will be available for their child or family members if needed sometime in the future. Family cord blood banking can be done at all U.S. birthing hospitals.
In addition to being an exact match for the child, cord blood stored from one child has a 30% probability of being an exact match or a very close match for each brother or sister. Cord blood is currently being utilized in the treatment of over 70 diseases, and research is being performed for the possible use of cord blood in the treatment for other diseases. Having cord blood stored in CORD:USE’s cord blood bank will allow the opportunity for a family to potentially benefit from cord blood’s current uses and possible future uses. Many expectant parents choose family cord blood banking because they see the value that cord blood may have for a member of their family should one be diagnosed with a life-threatening disease which is treatable with cord blood.
Public Cord Blood Donation
In public cord blood banking, expectant parents elect to donate the cord blood which is collected, processed, stored and subsequently made available to others. When cord blood is donated to a public cord blood bank and if it meets certain criteria for banking, it is made available to anyone in the general public through a database called a "registry" for patients in need of a transplant. There is no charge to donate cord blood to a public cord blood bank. Public donation is not available at all U.S. birthing hospitals.
Unlike family cord blood banking, if a cord blood transplant is needed for the child or family, there is no guarantee that the donated cord blood will be available for a member of your family because the criteria for a cord blood unit to be listed in the public registry are stringent precluding many units from being banked. In addition, if a cord blood unit makes it into the registry, it may be used in a transplant to potentially save an unrelated person’s life. If you desire for your baby’s cord blood to be available for your child or family, you should elect to store it in the CORD:USE Cord Blood Bank for private storage.