Cord Blood Banking at Core23 Biobank

There are three options available for cord blood collection and storage: disposal, public donation, and private banking. It is important to decide prior to your delivery which option for cord blood collection is right for you and your family.

Option 1: Cord Blood Disposal
If you choose not to store your child’s cord blood at either a public or private bank, the delivering physician will dispose of the umbilical cord blood and the stem cells it contains as medical waste after your delivery.

Option 2: Public Cord Blood Banking
Some hospitals in larger cities offer public banking for donation of cord blood. These banks will typically accept cord blood with no upfront fee. That cord blood will be made available to anyone needing a stem cell transplant. Publicly banked cord blood will not be made available specifically for the donor or their family. Only a very small percentage of publicly donated units are actually processed and stored.

It costs you nothing to donate your baby’s umbilical cord, but in return you could be granting the biggest gift someone could ever ask for—a life-saving treatment. Cord blood transplants do not require a perfect match. Studies have shown cord blood transplants can be performed in cases where the donor and the recipient are partially matched.

Due to the incredible healing power and growing number of applications for family or privately banked umbilical cord blood stem cells, Core23 has resolved to focus exclusively on our private cord blood banking programs. We will continue to support the public banking programs in any of the many ways we can as they continue their mission to collect donated cord blood for life-saving clinical transplants into a sick patient and for cutting edge research programs for the advancement of cellular therapeutics and regenerative medicines.

Option 3: Private Cord Blood Banking

The only option to save your child’s cord blood for the exclusive use of your family is to bank it privately. There are many companies that offer private cord blood banking, so it is important to research and register with the company that best fits your family’s needs prior to your delivery. When selecting a private cord blood bank, it is important to evaluate their collection and transportation methods, their processing and testing procedures and their storage capabilities. Private banks charge an initial collection fee and annual storage fees.

Many ongoing clinical trials researching the potential uses for stem cell therapy, which include trials for autism, diabetes, and traumatic brain injury, will only admit patients with their own cord blood.

Some private storage laboratories offer you the ability to store the tissue and plasma from the umbilical cord as well. The umbilical cord tissue is a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells that have the ability to transform into various types of tissue. While there are no current human therapies using mesenchymal cells from the umbilical cord tissue, there are numerous on-going studies for uses in the future. Researchers are optimistic the tissue will, one day, be useful in the treatment of brain, spinal cord, and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries.

The Bottom Line About Cord Blood Banking

No matter what option you select, you must choose prior to your child’s birth. If you do not bring a collection kit with you to the delivery of your child, your physician will have no choice but to dispose of the cord blood and tissue as medical waste. Please be sure to talk with your healthcare provider about your decision at your next visit.