Cord Blood Banking - Tuckerton, NJ

R., I have three boys. With the first two we asked my doctors about banking and they acted like it was a bunch of baloney. Because of the cost and their opinion we couldn't justify doing it. Let me tell you...knowing what I do now, I SO regret that decision. So many diseases have been found to be corrected with cord blood but usually it is a sibling it helps. They find new ones every year. Now that I am in my mid-thirties, I know several people who may have been helped had they had this.

While I pray to God we are never in a position to need their cord blood, I would feel so much better if we had it "just in case". As a result, with our third, we decided to bank his cord blood no matter what. We went with CryoCell. They had the best cost and I was happiest speaking with their people. I actually referred another mom on here...I called to find out what specials I could get for her and then she gave my name as her referrer. If you like, I'd be happy to do that for you as well. Just let me know.

L.

PS CryoCell paid my doctor's collection fee and by purchasing through them, it locked the price in for any future children we have. It was very easy and they sent a kit ahead of time so I could read through it and take it to the hospital with me. My doctor collected the blood right in the OR as I had a c-section and the hospital also had to draw blood from me to send with it. Not 2 hours after I was back in my room, a courier was there to pick the box up (my husband called the number they gave). Shipping was no charge. When I talked to the hospital beforehand, they told me CryoCell had the easiest collection process of all and they were very familiar with them.

Hi R.,

I went with Alphacord for both of my children and thought they were great.
Their service is not expensive and there are no hidden costs. Here is their number 866-396-7283. Hope this helps, Good luck

R.

Hi R..

We went through CBR.........Cord Blood Registry and have had a really good experience so far. My friend told me about them and she has had no problems either. The process was really pretty easy. They have a website and you can check them out. They send you updates every once in awhile with new news on uses,etc and they sent my kids books for their first birthday...karen katz, where is baby's belly button......it was really cute. Hope this helps!

At first I was under the impression that there was very little that the cord blood could do for my child or family. After asking my OB and calling the CBR company to ask questions. I learned that it could not only help my baby, but me and any siblings!!! To me... The benefits FAR outweighed the costs. It was a small investment in my childs life if there is ANY chance that it will save his life or benefit his health. That paired with the knowledge that they are constantly finding new ways to use the cord blood to help sick kids. TOTALLY worth the money if even just for peace of mind. I would be DEVISTATED if my baby got ill (or worse) and a couple thousand dollars kept me from helping him.

I went with CBR. The whole process was very easy. My OBGYN had a discount coupon for 150.00 off, but I am in the Military and it turned out that they gave us a $600 discount for that. I also chose to put the purchase on my credit card because the rate was lower on the card, then the rate they offered me to finance the purchase. The staff is very helpful, professional and attentive. I honestly picked them without shopping around because my OB was familiar with them and I was pleased with the customer support. Good Luck!

Hi R.,

I have 4yr old twin girls. I ended up using viacord. I had selected another, company, smaller and less expensive, but I ended up in the delivery room before we received the supplied that we needed. While in the OR my husband attempted to reach them by phone, but was unable. The hospital had VIacord info so we used them. The girls pediatrician's opinion of the whole process could be summed up by his comment, "Oh you got conned into that too." While he believes that it will be helpful from a research perspective, he feels that the likelyhood of us ever benefiting from it directly is slim. So I would suggest that if possible, you speak to a doctor of two and get their opinions. As far as Viacord, I have had no complaints.

Hi R.,
My experience with cord blood banking has been positive. I was adopted at 6 days old, and I knew that my baby would forever be my only blood relative. As it turned out, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after my son was born, and if stem cell research ever yields a cure, I'll have the cells ready!
But for my son, it's such a comfort to know that if he is ever stricken with a disease that could be helped with cord blood cells, how could I live with myself kowing I could have banked but didn't?
Good luck with your decision!

I've chosen not to. I would hate to say it came down to money, but let's face it, the upfront cost plus lifetime maintenance isn't cheap. On top of that, I found the concept morbid. Plus, new research into stem cells is finding they aren't the great white hope everyone thought they were (as they tend to grow haywire-- much like cancer cells themselves) and if I do ever have to deal with a blood illness in my as-yet=unborn child, I hope they will have perfected other forms of cell-cloning/ DNA-harvesting by then.

When I discussed the matter with my midwife she basically said, "If it's between this and starting a college fund for your kid, start the college fund."

we used viacord, thats the one my doc used for his babies. he said that because they are a research facility as well as a storage facility, that they have better financial backing and staying power. his choosing them was good enough for me.

I donated the cord blood to a public bank in NJ [paramus].
It was no cost to me and the doctor billed insurance, but didn't get paid and should not balance bill you.

If you have genetic dz in family, banking may be worth your while. If not, you may be able to help another family with public banking.

It is effortless and automatic, if you permit it. They wrap and save the umbilical cord, which has important stem cells in it. It then gets stored in a facility under proper temperature and humidity conditions (I think it's frozen). If you should ever need stem cells that are a match for your child (or even for you, or for your other children, perhaps), they will be able to harvest the stem cells to build a new organ. Oprah had a whole episode on the subject. New organs like your liver, your heart, your stomach, etc. can be grown from scratch using stem cells, so there is no rejection possibility, unlike transplanted organs. The storage facility does charge you about $110 per year, however, with an initial setup fee of about $1000. As insurance against a future life-threatening problem, however, it is priceless. If you want to discuss it further, give me a call at ###-###-####. I. Collins

My husband and I banked our kids cord blood through CBR. We asked our pediatricians and OBs what they chose to do. ALL banked their childrens' cord blood......

We decided to donate both twins cords to the hospital blood bank--only one of theirs turned out to be useable. We figured if everyone donated, then no one would have to pay for it ultimately.
Good luck!

We donated my daughter's cord blood to the blood bank of NJ in Paramus. Look to see if there is one in your area. Unless your family has a genetic illness that you know of it's a waste of money. I think people will eventually stop storing it for personal use and just donate it like we do with regular blood so anyone who needs it will have access to it through a public bank. Some people have paid thousands of dollars only to find out that the sample that was extracted wasn't sufficient for any treatment. So beware. And if you do think you may need it make sure you discuss it with the doctor who will be delivering for you (or put it in your birth plan if you're not sure which doctor in a large practive will be on call that night) so they know how important it is to extract enough. Good luck and God bless!

We used Viacord, and was very happy with their services.

Hi R.,
I did not bank because I couldn't justify the cost, then a few years later, my mom got cancer and I had this huge pang of regret. BUT!!!, when it came down to it, they wouldn't even test me or my brothers to see if we were a match for donating bone marrow because they said at BEST we would be a 50% match. Her sister was not a match, but luckily a complete stranger from Germany was.

I only read a few of the other responses, but I liked the one of donating it to a cord blood bank. I think the cost of banking it on your own is too great, and the likelyhood of it being any use to anyone in your family is miniscule.

Best wishes,
A.

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Like most parents, we looked into it. If you have a known genetic disease in your family then it might be worth it. Private banking is very expensive though. Plus you have to pay the doctor to extract and put it into the special container. You can donate it to a public bank, something we also looked into but once again, most doctors charge a fee. Ours wanted 700 dollars and insurance does not cover it. So we did not do it. Good luck!

I have 2 kids (5 & 2) and I went with Viacord because they are also a research company.

My feeling is that science is advancing all the time and this is like life insurance for your kid and maybe even siblings, parents, other family members (if they're a match). Figure it's like $2000 investment. God forbid you need the stem cells it'll cost like $30K to get them (if you find a match & family matches are always better).

fYI you can do a gift registry...after 3 kids you might not need anything or little so why not have people donate towards this....I think that's a great idea!

This is something they can have forever (they did research on one that's been stored for 20 years and it's as if they just stored it).

You can alway donate but there's only a 40% chance that they'll even get enough cells that they can use it.

Good luck making the decision, hope I helped.

I teach pre-natal yoga classes so get coupons if you want one or have any other questions, e-mail me ____@____.com and I'll e-mail it to you. Right now I have a $400 coupon that expires 6/15...that'll bring the total to like $1800.

You can start a registry through Viacord, too...after 2 other kids you may need little (if anything) so is a good concept to have people put a little money in to help your baby.

Hi R.,
We also went with Viacord for my son (I'm a first time Mom). We treat it as a "what if" and are hoping never to use it. I think that it's money well spent (although it is expensive: $125/yr and close to $2k upfront!, check with your doctor about his fee). My husband just needed to call in advance, (unfortunately) I had a c-section scheduled so he told Viacord at what time... but if you'll deliver naturally you'll just need to call them when you'll be leaving to the hospital. You probably know that... the cord blood is a 100% match only to the baby, with the siblings (and parents) the match is not a 100% guarantee but still high (forgot the actual %-tages...)
Please send me a message if you'll have any detailed questions and I'll pull out my Viacord binder and give you all the details.
Good luck!!!
Magda

My husband and I decided to store our son's cord blood. We view it as an insurance policy. You hope to never have to use it but I feel more safe knowing its available. Yes you can go through a public bank if you are ever in a position to need cord blood, but there are no guarantees that what's in public storage will be a match to your child. It is an expensive investment, however, so you have to decide whether it's an investment you can afford to make. We used Cord Blood Registry and were able to work out a payment plan for the inital setup fee so that we didn't have to pay it all up front. Also, check with your doctor and your insurance because we didn't have to pay our doctor anything for collecting the blood. Good luck!

Hi R.,

I went with New England Cord Blood Bank. They were less expensive and I liked what they offered. They have always been incredibly helpful whenever I have had questions about payments or needed customer service for any reason. Fortunately I have not needed the cord blood, so I can't give any advice about that, but hopefully neither will you!

I thought it was a great idea - I signed up for it and had to give a deposit for the kit to bring to the hospital. I had everything ready to go when my 3rd was born. She was scheduled to be a waterbirth at a local hospital. Unfortunately she got stuck and I was rushed into an emergency C-section. Instead of the doctors saving the cord they discarded it on me and told me it was either the life of my child or the cord which I don't believe. I just think they were very careless and didn't respect my decision to save a very important piece that could someday be useful to one of my children in need. I was sedated and very out of it to even think straight. So have your husband be prepared to have that box in hand and insist that they keep that cord in the event that something goes wrong! I never got my money back and lost $120 even though I never even opened the box. Best of luck to you both!

I went with Viacord for my 2 boys and was very happy with the service.
Good luck- we saw it as an insurace plan, something we hope to never use, but glad to know it is there just in case.

Our OB told us that we would likely be able to draw from a public bank and find a match, so there was no reason for us to store it privately. I read an article that said that when it comes down to it, VERY few people have been helped by private cord blood and that new uses are many years down the line. If we had some kind of known genetic disorder in our families, I certainly would have though more about storing it, but instead we decided to donate to a cord blood bank. There was no cost to us - we just had to sign a few papers and do a blood draw in the hospital. They even gave us a number to use in the event that if we ever did need the cord blood, they would be able to look and see if any of ours is left.

I work for A. Registry, a cord blood bank. Find out how you can save up to ten times more stem cells as compared to cord blood alone. See www.cordadvantage.com

Hi R.,

When I was expecting my twinkies, I did a little research on the subject. My family is healthy. My ex-husband's family have issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, MS, etc. I was told that it's really not worth the cost even with that family history since they contributed to most of their illnesses with laziness & not following doctor's orders to eat better & exercise. Every doctor I spoke with agreed that the chances of needing the cord blood is extremely rare & these companies are just feeding on the fear of gullable parents. My suggestion is to do research before forking over all that money.

Best wishes,
A.