The Role And Need Of Umbilical Cord Blood Banks
An umbilical cord blood bank renders as the storage facility to the donors, who are eager to preserve cord blood stem cells. Cord blood banking refers to an innovative program that stores and recruits umbilical cord blood cells to combat severe ailments in patients. Since studies have supplied significant information about the human body’s inability to recover from disorders like Non-Hodgkin’s disease, major spinal cord damages, immunity disorders, blood cell disorders, new parents are rushing to these banks to utilize their children’s umbilical cord cells. These cord cells can be harvested when an authentic and efficient bank is used to store them. Therefore, adequate facts and details about the functioning of the bank should be the focus of the donor’s attention before he selects a cord blood bank.
Private And Public Cord Blood Banks
The place where cord blood stem cells after collection are couriered have been founded for both general and private use. Private banks allow umbilical cord blood stem cells to be stored for transplanting requirements of donors and their families only. This means, a donor is entitled to the sole right to receive deposited samples for his own transplant needs and those of his family members. Stem cells donated to a public bank have lesser chances to be used by donors themselves, as the usage of stem cells is open to all and sundry.
Most of the private and public banks were founded during the 1990s. Public banks regulate stringent rules for the donors to use their storage facility. Furthermore, the donors are screened along with their blood samples to be eligible for umbilical cord blood banking. An expectant parent is required to contact a public bank 34 weeks prior to delivery. People interested in donating their samples in a cord blood bank can browse through the internet and locate the nearest private or public cord blood bank. In public banks, donors should be aware of the fact that post donation and testing, the samples are stripped of all donor identifying information, making the donor’s family incapable of retrieving the donated samples in case of their own transplant needs.
In comparison a private umbilical cord blood bank is a setup that caters solely to donor’s needs. Parents who opt to save cord blood cell samples in a private bank are supposed to pay an approximate fee of $1,500 to $2,000 to preserve their rights of usage, in addition to an annual maintenance fee of around $100. Other charges by an umbilical cord blood bank include fees for cord blood collection kit, courier services for the blood cord samples to be transferred to the bank and initial processing measures. Some banks allow even a saving of around $500 paying an upfront amount during banking. If the high costs deter you, it must be noted that the parents or the guardians can choose to donate or sell their stored stem cells to a needy family a few years down the line, if they are sure of their child’s and other siblings’ health.
There is also another option given by non-profit cord blood banks, of free programs through which one can store umbilical cord blood stem cell samples. However, taking notes on the efficiency of cell processing and frequency of usage in transplants by an umbilical cord blood bank is highly important before you give your precious life saving stem cell samples to them.
