Cord Blood Banking HELP!

My son's banking with ViaCord -haven't had any issues with them and its been there for 3 yrs. They are actually very helpful and send very informative newsletters pretty often, via-email. I would give them a shot. Good luck! :-)

Hello ! I work for A. Registry, a cord blood bank. Please look out for our upcoming Cord Advantage product launch that saves many more stem cells as compared to cord blood banking alone. Also, we have better pricing than most of our competitors. www.cordadvantage.com

I used CBR for both of my sons. I have great experiences both times.

Hi Kim,

We bank our daughters blood cord cells thru CBR and so far the experience has been great! They keep you up to date on any new details, via newsletters, phone calls, emails etc..

We feel great knowing we chose CBR

I would absolutely go with ViaCord. I did a lot of research on cord blood banking when I was choosing it for the birth of my son 2 yrs ago and found that ViaCord is the only company approved and capable of multiplying your stem calls in the lab to give you and your family the ability to actually use them if necessary.

The other cord blood companies only collect enough cells to administer them 1 time to a child 5 and under if they are sick. I wanted enough cells to administer if my husband or I or other siblings needed the cells later in life for such things as alzheimer's or such. In my mind there was a much greater rick of an elderly person getting a disease than a child under 5!

ViaCord is great! I pay once a year for storage @ $150 and they send me literature with the newest research they are doing and all the diseases they are curing.
Best of luck.

I am with Cord Blood Registry and can get you a coupon for $150 off if you'd like.

http://www.cordbloodregistry.com/

I chose them for 3 reasons.

1. Their R&D in stem cell research
2. The collection is in multiple bags (so that if cord blood is needed, there is more than one collection to be used multiple times if necessary)
3. The location of their facility (see below).

K.

CBR's lab is located in Tucson, Arizona, a location historically free from natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc.) that may create circumstances that could interrupt consistent long term storage of your sample. CBR's highly trained laboratory technicians routinely test and certify every critical piece of laboratory equipment. Redundant back-up systems include an electric generator as well as an automated reserve liquid nitrogen storage unit.

State of the Art Laboratory
Cord Blood Registry's facility is accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) for the specialized processing of hematopoietic stem cells. Accreditation, which requires AABB audits every two years, is evidence that your sample is screened, processed, and stored following the strictest quality assurance guidelines.

Take a Tour of our Lab

Ultimate Protection Against Cross-Contamination

CBR's storage vaults were custom built for our lab and feature the most stable and precise cryogenic temperature control, while avoiding sample exposure to liquid nitrogen, which can transfer viruses, risking cross-contamination. Each sample is encased in an outer protective layer to ensure the barcode never detaches from the sample. This system provides the most secure, long-term storage available.

I LOVE Cord Blood Registry (CBR.) Seriously.

I called 6 cord banking places when I was pregnant. (There are about 30 in the USA altogether.) Most provide the exact same service with the exact same standards and oversight. So, my thinking was if I went with one of the larger companies, there was really nothing to justify the cost differences. Thus I chose CBR. It's a big company with decades of experience and is the most cost effective of the big guys.

They sent me my kit with everything in it. I had to do absolutely nothing. Upon delivery, my husband handed the kit to my OB who did whatever she does, sealed the box up and we made a phone call in my recovery room. The courier was there within an hour and off it all went. There were no charges to my credit card until CBR received the package too...so if you change your mind, even if you have the kit, there is no loss.

I got a call from CBR before I even got home from the hospital telling me they got the package and all was well. They then called me a short while later to give me the results...they were able to harvest and preserve 3 TIMES the amount of stem cells normally harvested. I was thrilled! There was no cost difference with this, just a great turn out.

They sent me a beautiful certificate showing all the pertinent information and I get quarterly newsletters in the mail about research and whatnot. I also signed up for their online service (free) and get regular emails about great things in the news and industry that pertain to cord blood stem cells.

I got an offer in the mail just this week with discount cards for their service. I think it was either $150 or $250 off the initial cost. Send me a message if you'd like me to send one to you. :)

All the best. I know this is an investment...but it only takes one health issue to come up and make it more than worth it. It's pretty cheap insurance when you look at it that way.

Edited to add:
I'm not sure where Mandy (below) got her info or how dated it is, but it's not true that your own cord blood can't be used. Check out this story about a girl's own cord blood being used to treat her brain injury with miraculous results!
http://www.cordbloodregistry.com/azfamily.asp

CBR also recently highlighted a small boy who I believe had autism and was able to use his own cord blood to alleviate those symptoms too!

You absolutely CAN use your own cord blood...and because cord blood doesn't go bad, it can be kept indefinitely and your child can use it for his own children one day if needed...or a sibling, etc. It is ludicrous to say that that never happens!

I used Viacord with both my girls. I have been happy with them.

Hi! Congrats on your new addition! I chose ViaCord for my little one at the advice of my Doctor. He said he has worked with several and this one is the best to deal with. I also liked that they not only "bank" but also are involved with research so that there will be further uses for the banked product in the future. I don't really know anything about CryoCell. I hope this helps a bit. Good luck with your decision.

We went with CBR. No complaints, everything went smoothly.
Good luck with your new little one! May GOD bless you and your family!

We just had a baby 6 months ago and we did ALOT of research on blood banking and we picked ViaCord - ViaCord's storage facility is located in Cincinnati, so we knew their facility was in a safe location (out of hurricanes, etc...) and they are AABB accredited, CLIA certified and FDA registered and one of the only companies that has the FDA approved bag for cesarean birth - not to mention they have been around for awhile and that is important to have a company that has been around and has done their own research too!

Good luck!

I use CBR. They are great! I believe they were the first company to start core blood storage. They send you emails to keep you informed about research and children they help. They have a referal program. You get a free year of storage with every referal. I pay $125 a year for storage but it may have gone up by now. They have many different payment options for the initial set-up. They are very friendly and helpfull with questions. There # 1-888-932-6568, Web www.coreblood.com Dont forget to tell them my name:) Ete Parker.
I hope you find one you like.

we've been really happy with the service at cbr, and we managed to get a really good price with them too.

Hi K.,
This is an issue near and dear to my heart, as I used to work with a public cord blood bank. When going with a private company, there is very little, if any, difference. The only ones that really make a difference are the public cord blood banks, but unfortunately there are very few of them in the country. The public banks are the ones that provide cord blood to patient needed for transplant. As of yet, there has never been a life saved from a transplant by cord blood from private bank (yes, they are used for "treatments" i.e brain injury, autism, but not for transplants - there is a difference). Likely, if your child were to ever need a stem cell transplant, his own cord blood could not be used, and his transplant would come from an anonymous donor to a public cord blood bank. There are a lot of misnomers regarding cord blood storage and transplant, as the companies that are not public banks are in it to make money. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it is just that they tailor their marketing to increase business (as any business would do). The fact is that only a very small percentage of cord blood collected is viable for transplant. The private (paid) banks will generally collect and store any cord blood, while the public banks have much higher standards, and only preserve cord blood that is viable for transplant.

I have not researched either of those companies in depth, but if either one does TCP testing and requires a specific volume of blood for banking, that is the one I would go with, as those are important measures as to the viability of the cord blood.

Also, currently FDA regulations on public banks limit storage to 10 years. It's no that it can't be used after that (if stored at a private bank) it's just that they don't know yet if it is viable after that length of time, so they err on the side of extreme caution.

Good luck with your decision, and congrats on the upcoming birth of your baby!