Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott E on June 13, 2011 at 12:08pm

Hayley - First of all, congratulations on the expected arrival of a new child!! The birth of my son was one of the best days of my life, and he still brings me joy and pride every day -- the bond between a parent and a child is like no other. He is now 4 years old, and we are expecting a second child in November. Exciting times!!

On the issue of cord blood banking, when my wife was pregnant 5 years ago, I asked my endo about it - particularly because we were told from our insurance company that we would need a medical justification in order to get coverage under her company's Flexible Spending Account. If you're expecting in 2012, you may want to look into it. It'll save you money. In any event, that doctor didn't know about any benefits, but offered to write a letter to the insurance company anyway to mention the potential benefits down the road. (To be fair, this doc failed to impress me in other ways, there are more educated and aware doctors out there).

I can't cite anything specifically to you, other than the numerous generic studies that stem cells might be able to treat or cure diabetes or illnesses sometime in the future. I'd suggest doing a Google search to see if you find something more up-to-date.

I will suggest, though, that you shop around for who you use to store the cord-blood. We used AlphaCord. They don't advertise nearly as much as the others, but their fees are much less. They were easy to work with - the hardest part was taking the container (that the doctor filled) in the package (that Alphacord provided) to the local FedEx location to be shipped to them. Now, I have no idea how they are versus the bigger names at storing the blood - we take them at their word that it's in some sort of freezer in Paramus, New Jersey, but you really never know unless you make a "withdrawal" of cord blood. We plan to do the same with our second child as well.

Permalink Reply by Hayley on June 15, 2011 at 9:52am

Thanks for the info! Did you bank just the blood or the tissue as well? Also, which lab did you choose for storage? I went to their website and am considering the lab in Indianapolis, IN, as I live in KY, but was wondering why the cost would be lower than some of the other labs? They have been open just as long as some others, but have had no requested cord blood transplants....

Permalink Reply by Scott E on June 15, 2011 at 10:15am

We just did the blood. We didn't know about the tissue until afterwards (and I forgot again, until now!). It's stored in the NJ lab (I thought it was sent to Paramus, but I see the Alphacord site now says it's in Allendale, which is quite close). We lived in New York when my son was born, and are in New Jersey now, so we'll likely use the same place for our second.
I'm not sure about the reason for the difference in costs, other than that some seem to do different screenings than others (see here: http://www.alphacord.com/compare_labs.htm), some have backup generator power while others don't, hours of operation vary (for taking out blood), and real-estate prices vary from place to place.  It certainly makes sense to choose the lab closest to you, in case you critically need it for any reason.

If you do decide to go with Alphacord, I'd appreciate your kindness in using me as a referral -- I can give you whatever information is required privately.