Core Blood Banking

My dd is almost 2 and banked with CBR. They are a wonderful company and send my dd birthday cards and gifts. I believe it was around $2000 to initially bank and then it is $125 a year. They do offer payment plans as well. I also have an 8 year old and wish we banked her cord blood as well but we honestly didn't know enough about it then. Talk with your obgyn as they will need to note in your chart if you do decide to bank. Your obgyn will give you a kit if they have one available to take to the hospital with you. Make sure you let admitting, nurses and any doc you see you are banking. When the baby is born there is a toll free number you call and then CBR sends a courier from their home office in Phoenix topick p the cord blood - this took about 3 hours and I am in Chicago. The courier verifies all info including photo Id of you or hubby. Once the blood is received in Phoenix they run a test to see how many cells were collected. They will call you with this info and you will get updates on any new advancements they are doing with stem cells.
Hubby and I think of it this way- it is an insurance policy you hope it will never be needed but its great to have if you do.
Please let me know if you have any other questions and Good Luck!

I am not sure exactly how long you have left, but time may be running short for cord blood banking. I donated my last 2 children's cord blood to a public bank. It was free and is much more likely to get used and help someone than if I kept it to myself. If I remember right I needed to have my request for a kit in by 34 weeks, not sure how that compares to private banking.
This website answers a lot of questions about cord blood donation and also lists who make good candidates for private banking, a surprisingly short list. Have you discussed this with your doctor? Have you been told you would be a good candidate for private banking? For most it truly is a waste of money and encouraged by companies preying on vulnerable new parents.
http://marrow.org/Get_Involved/Donate_Cord_Blood/Cord_Blo...
I wish you the best.

This site indicates it is $2195 for the first year and then $125/year after that.

http://www.cordblood.com/cord-blood-banking-cost/cord-blo...

I did not bank my daughter's cord blood. 12 years ago it was MUCH more expensive than that.... and I just couldn't afford it.

There are several types of cancers that can be CURED if you have banked your child's cord blood. The reality is, however, MOST of us will never need or use it. So, it's a risk. I know if my daughter developed a life threatening illness and I could have saved her I would feel awful if I hadn't saved her cord and she died..... that's a bit "fear-monger-ish" but it's how I would feel. Having said that.... i don't really have that kind of money.... so I'm not sure what I would do now if I had to make that decision.

I do know that if I had several thousand dollars that I didn't know what to do with... you know just laying around.... I would DEFINITELY use it for this.

We banked both of our children's cord blood with Cord Blood Registry-CBR. I second everything Rebecca K. wrote below. They also offer "sibling" discounts, for future reference. Congrats!

It's VERY unlikely that you will ever need the cord blood. However, if you have a lot of extra money laying around and want to do it on the slight chance that you will need it, go for it! I've heard CBR is good.

you can not use the babies own cord blood on itself, so unless you might someday need it for a sibling then it is better to just donate it from what I understand