How much does it cost to bank the baby's cord blood?

Question

I see ads all over the place for companies that bank cord blood, but nothing about the average cost of this.  Has anyone looked into it and know how much it costs typically?

Answer 1

I think it's expensive up front, not sure exactly but I'm guessing $1200 to $2400, and then they charge you a storage fee of around $500 per year.  Sorry I'm not exact, but you can request a brochure of some prices from several companies and compare.  I think it's sad they'll let you donate your cord to someone else, (not that donating it is bad) but not keep it for your family free of charge.  Take care!

Answer 2

We went with Viacord, the most cost is in the first year because of the collection and transport fee.  The cost for the first year is $2,050.  You don't have to pay again until next year and the cost is then $125/year to store the cord blood.  You can pay in full up front, but they also offer a payment plan to break-up some of the payments over an extended period of time.
It's one of those things, if you can afford it, it is a good thing to do.  It's like an extra insurance plan, if something does come up in the future, you know you did everything in your power to protect your child from possibly treatable diseases.  But it is a little controversial, exactly how much the cord blood can actually do to treat disease.

I have done a little more research, and found that they do actual perform life-saving procedures in the U.S. using Cord Blood.
 
"What the storage firms' promotions don't say is that the vast majority -- about 3,500 -- of cord blood stem cell transplants have been done using cells from unrelated donors from public banks. About 300 transplants have involved sibling donors while 14 have been done using a child's own cells, said Dr. John Wagner, Scientific Director of Clinical Research of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota."
"Doctors say that if parents donate their children's cord blood to a public bank, there is a high probability it will be used. There are only about 20 public banks in the country but they can only work with a limited number of hospitals because receiving and processing the donations is expensive. A bill introduced in the Senate last October would expand public cord blood banking. "