FAQs

Banking Cord Blood

Banking Cord Blood – FAQs About Saving Your Baby’s Cord Blood Stem Cells

What are my options for saving my baby's cord blood?

You have two options to save your baby's cord blood:

Family banking: your baby's cord blood is stored for a fee for exclusive use by your family should a medical need arise in the future.

  • Designated Treatment ProgramSM: CBR offers cord blood collection and storage at no cost when a family member has been diagnosed with a life-threatening condition that can be treated with stem cells.

Public donation: your baby's cord blood is donated anonymously for potential use by a patient who needs a transplant. You must meet eligibility requirements to donate to a public bank and give birth in a participating hospital.

If you choose not to family bank or donate, your baby's cord blood is discarded at the hospital.

Return to Top

Why do families choose to collect and store their babies' cord blood?

Every month, thousands of new parents, a number of them doctors, nurses, and scientists, recognize that collecting and storing their newborn's stem cells with CBR may give their families a powerful resource against injuries and disease that can occur in the future. Some of the important reasons to save cord blood include the following:

  • Cord blood is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells, which have been used in transplant medicine to treat nearly 80 serious diseases, including leukemia, other cancers, and blood disorders.
  • Cord blood is being researched today for use in regenerative medicine where stem cells may help induce healing or regenerate cells to repair tissues. This exciting new area of medicine has led to clinical trials and research using cord blood in experimental therapies to treat cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and juvenile diabetes.
  • Your baby's cord blood is immediately available for your family if needed for treatment, and early treatment can minimize disease progression.1
  • If ever required for a transplant, using your own family's cord blood instead of an unrelated donor's can have significant advantages, including fewer complications and improved medical outcomes.
  • For experimental regenerative medicine therapies that use cord blood, the child's own stem cells are required.

    • Additionally, many families choose to save their babies' cord blood for specific reasons, such as:

    • having a family history of disease,
    • having a baby of an ethnic minority or mixed ethnicity, in which there is greater difficulty finding stem cell donors, or
    • adopting a newborn and wanting a valuable genetic source of stem cells for the adopted baby.

It is important to know that for inherited genetic conditions, the child's own cord blood cannot be used. In those cases, a matched sibling's stem cells would be the first choice.

Reference:
1. Pazdur R, et al. Cancer management: a multidisciplinary approach. 1998. Second edition.

Return to Top

How much does it cost to save my baby's cord blood?

Saving your baby's cord blood with CBR is an important investment in your family's health. Compared to other ways to protect your family, such as with home or auto insurance, saving your newborn's cord blood could offer even more valuable protection because if it is ever needed, it could be lifesaving.

Cord blood banking costs can be covered through payment plans, a gift registry to which friends and family can contribute, or a gift from grandparents-to-be.

Return to Top

Should I save cord blood for all of my children?

Yes, it is important to save cord blood for each child in the family:

  • By saving cord blood for all of your children, each child will have access to his or her own genetically unique cells. Your baby may use the stem cells for a number of diseases, however, not for inherited genetic conditions. In those cases, a matched sibling's stem cells would be the first choice. For experimental regenerative medicine therapies that use cord blood, the child's own stem cells are required.
  • Saving cord blood for all children in a family increases the likelihood that a family member in need will have access to a useful cord blood match for treatment.
  • In the case of identical twins, it is still important to save cord blood for each child as it is extremely difficult to determine if twins are indeed identical. Each child's cord blood is banked separately.

Return to Top

If someone in my family needs a transplant, couldn't we find a donated sample from a public bank?

Possibly, however, if a patient is in need of a transplant, the physician will look first for a suitable stem cell donor within the patient's family. Having your own family's cord blood available has advantages. For treating cancers and blood disorders in transplant medicine, using matched cord blood from within your own family can result in fewer complications and improved medical outcomes.

Additionally, to participate in current trials for experimental regenerative medicine therapies that use cord blood, the child's own cord blood is required.

Return to Top

How do I donate my baby's cord blood to a public bank?

With public donation, you may be able to donate your baby's cord blood for use by an anonymous patient in need. In 2009, the National Marrow Donor Program® facilitated more than 4,800 marrow and cord blood transplants for patients who did not have matching donors in the family. For more information about donation, visit marrow.org.

Return to Top

Shouldn't I choose a cord blood bank that is close to my home?

It is not important for a cord blood bank to be close to your home. The safety and viability of your baby's stem cells are far more important than the proximity of the storage location. Should they be needed, your stem cells can quickly be shipped to any medical center in the world.

The most important thing for your family is to make sure that your baby's cord blood collection yields the greatest number of stem cells possible and that the cells are viable and available if they are ever needed:

  • With CBR's exclusive CellAdvantage® system, every detail of CBR's process has been diligently developed, resulting in the best technology available for collecting, processing, and storing stem cells. Additionally, CBR has helped more clients use their stem cells for lifesaving transplants and experimental regenerative medicine therapies—double that of any other family bank. All of the stem cell units released for client use have been viable for treatments.

It is also important for the bank's laboratory and storage facility to be in a location that is not subject to major environmental disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes:

  • CBR's laboratory is located in Tucson, Arizona, one of the safest cities in the nation in terms of risk from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, winter storms, and tornadoes.1

Finally, because most families will require long-term storage, another important consideration is to choose a cord blood bank that is financially stable and more likely to be around in the future if you ever need to use your baby's stem cells:

  • CBR's track record of long-term stability and financial strength demonstrates our commitment that we will be here for you in the future.

Reference:
1. Sustain Lane. 2008 US City Ranking. Natural Disaster Risk. Available at
http://www.sustainlane.com/us-city-rankings/categories/natural-disaster-risk. Accessed July 19, 2010.

Return to Top

I'm planning to adopt. How does that change the process?

CBR sends an enrollment packet to you as well as the birth mother. Both parties must authorize the agreement before a kit can be sent. Many times the privacy of both parties is required. CBR has participated in hundreds of adoption cases for our clients, and we are very experienced with confidentiality and other unique issues surrounding the adoption process as it relates to cord blood collection and storage.

Return to Top

What if someone in my family is sick now and needs my child's cord blood?

Our Designated Treatment ProgramSM (DTPSM) provides cord blood collection, processing, and storage at no cost to families with a medical need. Families may apply to the DTP for the newborn's first-degree blood relative who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease treatable with stem cells. For more information on the DTP, please click here.

Return to Top


Banking cord blood does not guarantee that the cells will provide a cure or be applicable for every situation. For inherited genetic conditions, the child will not be able to use his or her own stem cells. A matched sibling's stem cells would be the first choice. Ultimate use will be determined by the treating physician. Treatment for brain injury and juvenile diabetes is experimental and currently requires the use of your own cord blood. Medical treatments using family banked cord tissue are in early research and are not available today; there is no guarantee that therapies will be developed in the future.
Share this page with family and friends: