How Much Does Cord Blood Banking Cost?

The human body is made up cells and stem cells have the amazing potential of specializing into other cells during early life. For this reason, a lot of studies on stem cell therapy are arising and cord blood banking is becoming more common. A newborn’s umbilical cord is rich in stem cells and if you’re an expectant parent, you have the opportunity of having the stem cell’s potential at your fingertips through cord blood banking. But you may be wondering how much does cord blood banking cost? It is by far not comparable to the number of disease that stem cells can cure.

Cord blood banking has the potential to save your child’s life. It is the process of storing stem cells from a newborn’s umbilical cord blood. Stem cells have been used in treating sickle cell disease, lymphomas, leukemia and many more life-threatening diseases. You, your baby, your other children, your family, or even a stranger can benefit from these stem cells.

Cord blood banking can either be made through a private or public cord blood bank. For a public cord blood bank, you only have to donate you child’s umbilical cord but anyone who needs it and is a match may access it. A private blood bank only allows the donor or his/her relatives to access it.

How Much Does Cord Blood Banking Cost?: A Break Down Of The Major Costs

So how much does cord blood banking cost? For a private cord blood bank it can be expensive. First you have to pay around $600 to $6000 for the collection of the sample along with other standard procedures like screening for infection, removal of red blood cells and the addition of cryopreservatives. You will only have to pay this fee once.

Next is the annual fee of $90 to $120 for storage. In order for the stem cells to be preserved, they have to be stored in liquid nitrogen. All in all, this could be very expensive; however, the benefits of stem cell therapy are worth it, especially if you have a risk factor for a disease treated by it. Even your relatives and descendants may benefit. A slight match can hugely improve the chances of a successful transplant.

Keep in mind though that for genetic problems, stems cell may not be the answer your looking for as a baby’s just inherit genes from their parents. However, studies on the benefits of stem cells for more common ailments like ischemic heart disease, bone fractures and others are already on going.

It is up to you to decide if you want to venture into cord blood banking. If you are, you should already be sure about which cord blood bank you will use before the 28th week of pregnancy and get everything ready by the time of the baby’s birth. The signs that stem cell therapy is the next big step in medicine should not be ignored.

Scientists are just discovering an increasing range of application for stem cells. Ask your self, how much does cord blood banking cost? The answer should not be your child or a loved one’s life.