Cord Blood Registry?

[Cin42382]

Just curious what your take on cord blood registries. I believe that saving cord blood for your child or even donating it for research is a good thing, but every place I read about charges yearly fees, setup charges, etc. Is this just a gimmic or is it worth it?

[MrsPinecone]

You even have to pay $$$ to donate cord blood-- it's about $150, I think.

I did the research, and the likelihood of your child actually needing it is something like one in a 100 million or a billion or some crazy number. It is actually used for a sibling more often than the child who produces the blood.

Needless to say, I am not bothering with either of my kids.

[Cin42382]

You even have to pay $$$ to donate cord blood-- it's about $150, I think.

I did the research, and the likelihood of your child actually needing it is something like one in a 100 million or a billion or some crazy number. It is actually used for a sibling more often than the child who produces the blood.

Needless to say, I am not bothering with either of my kids.

OMG thats crazy! They want you to donate but you have to pay!!!!! Grrrr forget that lol

[MrsPinecone]

Yep, you have to pay for the collection at birth. Then it gets donated. Not every hospital will collect it for donation, either.

It's pretty much a pain in the butt for something that you have a snowball's chance in Hades of using.

[Laurie1999]

We were very fortunate that we were close to Duke University when my daughter was born. The hosptial in Raleigh was partnering with Duke for their cord blood donation center. It did not cost us anything, so please do look into what the options are before you close yourself off to it. The hospital you deliver at should have information if they are partnering with a cord blood center. It was not a problem for us, just a bit of paperwork to fill out, and we really appreciated the fact that it might be able to help someone else, or help to improve the research.

If they are not a partner, that is probably when you may need to pay for it (which is really sad to me since it really can do some much good). Someone needs to be sent out to collect and package the cord blood very shortly after delivery, so I guess that is where the cost comes from. When my son was born a few years earlier at a different hospital, they had to just throw it away since they were not partnering with a collection center.

We choose to donate since we don't have an immediate family history of any of the diseases it may be helpful for.

But, do have a nephew with Type I diabetes and when his brother was born, they decided to keep his cord blood in case he ever develops diabetes. They were really lucky because it was a part of a program going on in their area, so they did not have to pay for it and don't need to pay for annual storage.

So, I guess resources are different in each area.

[chriscree]

I did it with both my boys... it was free of charge. Last summer they called us and told us my 12yo was a match and asked us some simple questions about him (IE was he healthy any diseases?) that kinda thing. We were happy to help some other family who needed it.

[cheesecake]

I have a question for ya. Why is my unmarried daughter - who is NOT pregnant - all of a sudden getting 3 different postcards about doing this?? We are both perplexed as to how her name got on this registry. Any ideas?

[MrsPinecone]

I have a question for ya. Why is my unmarried daughter - who is NOT pregnant - all of a sudden getting 3 different postcards about doing this?? We are both perplexed as to how her name got on this registry. Any ideas?

Has she signed up for freebies anywhere? Gotten a new credit card? Those places sell mailing lists all the time.

[JOURDYSMOM]

WATCH OUT!!!! I know a family who stored theirs and when the boy developed leukemia, they went to retrieve it from the company were to told that it would be $7,000 to retrieve...This AFTER they paid the set up fees AND the yearly storage fees for about 6 years..She was devastated!!! The insurance company finally came to settlement with the company for $3,500 retrieval, and then the mom sued the company for false advertising AND WON!!! But they still do it to all the other families that don't know any better UGH!

[Cin42382]

WATCH OUT!!!! I know a family who stored theirs and when the boy developed leukemia, they went to retrieve it from the company were to told that it would be $7,000 to retrieve...This AFTER they paid the set up fees AND the yearly storage fees for about 6 years..She was devastated!!! The insurance company finally came to settlement with the company for $3,500 retrieval, and then the mom sued the company for false advertising AND WON!!! But they still do it to all the other families that don't know any better UGH!

:frown:How sad is that!

They have all these fundraisers to try to raise money for cord blood research etc, and then these companie try to use people to make a profit. It's pathetic. I would have no problem donating it, but I am not going to pay for it ya know?