blood banks benefit
Does anyone know anything about Cord Blood banking?
Im considering banking my babys cord blood after birth but dont know too much info. Has anyone done this? Are there any cons other than the cost? What are some benefits?
If you decide not to privatly bank, please consider donating to the public bank.
http://www.marrow.org is the National Marrow Donors Program for the US. If you are in a different country, search your countries marrow program or I can help you find it.
Privatly banking is very expensive.
While there are lots of possibilities for the future, currently the only thing cord blood can be used for in application is stem cell transplants, the medically correct term for a bone marrow transplant. The transplant can be used to treat leukemias, lymphomas, myleomas, a few non cancerous blood diseases, is in trials to treat most auto immune diseases we have, can be used in conjunction with other organ transplants to give patients a chance to come off anti rejection meds, and is the possible future cure to aids.
Cord blood is used because while it still has to be matched, it doesnt have to be as close of a match.
One cord blood unit is only enough to transplant a small child. An adult sized person needs two units currently. So, if your child was older, they would still need to find a second unit from the public bank. Which is possible, I did my transplant last year using 2 units both from the private bank. Its only in trials, my transplant was a trial but it is possible.
That is just what there currently is. We dont know what will happen with the future.
Umbilical Cord Blood Banking: Why do Families Bank?