Cord Blood Banking: Pros and Cons to Understand

Articles

Cord blood banking is a growing trend among new parents and offers many advantages, including the ability to one day treat a child’s illness if the need arises. Of course, there are many considerations to keep in mind if you’re thinking about cord blood banking and it may not be for everyone. Here are the cord blood banking pros and cons you should understand before you make your decision.

Cord Blood Banking Pros and Cons: Advantages
If your family has a history of disease or medical conditions that may be treated with a bone marrow transplant, cord blood banking may be a good option. These diseases include lymphoma, leukemia, asplastic anemia, severe sickle cell anemia and severe combined immunodeficiency. While there are no statistics regarding how often babies with no risk factors use their banked cord blood, it’s a good way to safeguard your child’s health in the future.

Cord Blood Banking Pros and Cons: Downsides

There are also many downsides to keep in mind with cord blood banking.

• Cost. Collecting and storing cord blood is costly and may make it unavailable to many families. Typically, a commercial cord blood bank will charge between $1,000 and $2,000 to store a sample of cord blood from your child, plus an annual fee of $100. You may also need to pay additional fees, including processing, collection and courier service.
• Quantity Issues. The amount of cord blood stored may also present a problem. Most stem cell transplants occur with children and young adults. The larger the person, the more stem cells required for a successful procedure. Because only a small amount of umbilical cord blood is stored, this may not be enough to complete a transplant once the child has grown.*
• Perfect Match Isn’t Required. It’s also important to remember that donor cord blood stem cells do not need to be a perfect match to your child for a successful transplant. Because the procedure uses stem cells from cord blood, the cells are naive and haily adaptable, meaning there is little chance they will be rejected.*
• Possible Risks. Cord blood collection is a very low risk procedure, although there is a chance that a baby will develop anemia after birth if the cord is clamped too soon to collect more blood.