Which cord blood banking is best?
Cord blood banking is relatively new field and almost daily researchers are finding new possibilities to treat some of the most incurable and life threatening diseases. These days many good cord blood banks do exist to take care of this precious biological resource and make that available in case any such need arises in the future. Most of these researchers are quite optimistic about the new possibilities in the future, so indeed it is one of the wisest decision to be made today.
Basically there are two types of cord blood banks i.e. Private Banks and Public Banks. Let’s see what is the difference between a public umbilical cord blood bank and a private cord blood bank?
Generally, public cord blood banks (like other public organizations) have been established to further the research of the medical treatments of umbilical cord blood stem cells and for use in transplants of non-relatives.
If you donate your baby’s umbilical cord blood to a public blood bank, they do not provide a link between your baby and your baby’s cord blood unit.
If you wish to access your own child’s blood in the future, you would not be assured access to that particular blood should you, your child, or another family member someday need it.
On the other hand, when you save your baby’s umbilical cord blood with a private cord blood bank, no one else is entitled to access and utilize that cord blood without your permission.
But, even public cord blood banks are further differentiated on the basis of profit and non-profit objectives.
Each Types of Cord Blood Banks have their advantages and disadvantages, regarding costs and other features.
The Non-Profit Public Cord Blood Bank
According to one estimate, about 75% of cord blood banks in the world are public or private non-profit banks, which offer a service for the public benefit. They store donated samples for the purpose of transplantation or research. They also store cord blood for family use in case of a known risk in a family with a rare HLA group.
The cord blood that is stored in a non-profit bank has been donated and is therefore not owned by the parents who gave it, but rather by the bank. The blood is stored for free as it is placed on a donor registry, the NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program) that is a registry of donors that can be accessed by medical professionals for use in transplants or other research. Not only the ownership and profit motive, but also the business model of a non-profit cord blood donor registry is drastically different from that of a private cord blood bank. The private cord blood bank charges each customer a fee for processing and storing a sample as well.
The For-Profit Public Cord Blood Bank
At first glance for-profit public banks look like traditional non-profit blood banks, because they will accept your donation for free, however, in order to make a profit, the bank sells the cord blood for cord blood research. There is a great deal of stem cells research, and this makes cord blood very desirable to laboratories. The practice of selling this freely donated blood is legal in the United States, although it isn’t legal in many European and Asian countries.
On one hand it may sound just professional way of doing the business as well as helping the needy ones, but there are several ethical issues with a for-profit public cord blood bank. No doubt, this is a great option for the patients who need it or researchers for further research. But, think about those parents who have deposited cord blood will come to know that the donations are sold to laboratories within a matter of weeks—and that too for profit. Moreover, there is no surety for the parents that stored cord blood can be given to them for their own use.
Private Cord Blood Bank
A private cord blood bank is an independent bank and not state owned. So, when you save your baby’s umbilical cord blood with a private cord blood bank, no one else except you is entitled to access and utilize that cord blood. A private bank charges parents to store their child’s cord blood after birth for a fee anywhere between $500 and $2000, depending on which bank you store the blood at. Not only this, but they also charge maintenance or handling charges nearly $100 per year.
In addition to the three types of cord blood banks discussed above, during the early 2000’s, another type of bank has become common, which can be called a Research Public Bank (RPB). At first glance, these companies look like Transplant Blood Banks, because they will accept your donation for free. But the majority of the cord blood collected by these banks is not archived for transplants. Research Banks either use the cord blood for their own research or sell it to other researchers. Research Banks vary widely, from banks, which are collecting for peer-reviewed research programs at a local hospital, to banks, which are scamming parents to line the pockets of cord blood profiteers.
Let’s see the cost considerations.
As non-profit and for-profit public cord blood banks do not charge for cord blood, the only variation in pricing is between private cord blood banks.
Expensive cord blood banks estimate it costs them approximately $1,000 to process a cord blood sample properly, and they claim that a cheaper cord blood bank by charging less is skipping tests and cutting corners. While, economical banks claim that they accept a lower profit margin, and that they reduce processing costs by taking advantage of economies of scale. So, in order to distinguish between types of cord blood banks, it is therefore a good start to look at how much money a non-profit cord blood public bank spends on testing a sample.
The conclusion from comparing costs, staff and testing between all Types of Cord Blood Banks and the need for profit means that the minimum cost of processing a sample properly ($1000 US) is close to the number argued by the more expensive banks. This is the price you should be looking to pay if you are interested in storing cord blood. If the cost is anything less than this, it is possible that the cord blood bank may be cutting corners to be competitive. The reverse is also true, as a figure very much larger than $1000 could indicate that a bank is looking to increase its profit margin at a detriment to the customer.
read more about Types of Cord Blood Banks here