Public And Private Cord Blood Banks:

The reason cord blood storage is in the news in the science world today is because cord blood is a rich source of stem cells. This is the blood that is collected from the umbilical cord at the time of delivery. Once collected, cord blood is processed and stored for potential future usage.

Some wonder why people actually consider collection and cord blood storage. This blood, however is full of stem cells, which proves to be very helpful in treating and curing many genetic and blood diseases.  Frequently, it is the expectant parent who has a family history of genetic diseases like severe anemia, some forms of cancer such as leukemia or immune disorders, who consider cord blood storage.

Of course, the incidence of families suffering from such risk factors is relatively infrequent; about 1 person in 20,000 people. However, cord blood that is collected can not only be used

by the family, but also by other HLA matched unrelated patients in need of stem cells. Should one decide to publically donate their cord blood, it could potential be used to help cure or treat some other person suffering from a fatal disease. 

Before considering cord blood storage in a public bank for use by others, it is important to know the responsibilities and implications of this donation.

Once a cord blood specimen is donated to a public bank, the family relinquishes all rights to their specimen.  It is no longer available only to that family, but instead, to all families in need.  Should a family need their cord blood specimen in the future, there is no guarantee that specimen will still be available.

Private cord blood storage processes and stores a family’s cord blood specimen exclusively for that family.  The cord blood is only able to be retrieved by the family member that established the account, but the specimen can be used for anyone in the family for whom it is a match.  With this assurance of availability comes a price.  Private cord blood banks charge anywhere from approximately $1,000 to $2,000 for this service with any added fee for medical courier transport to their laboratory and an added annual storage fee of $115-$125.  A lower enrollment fee generally means that the company is utilizing a manual processing system.  This is not true in all cases, so be sure to ask.  Manual processing has been shown to yield a lower rate of critical cells.  Many companies are now using automation or closed bag systems which historically have recovered higher rates of critical cells.