Cord Blood Bank Types Explained

If you are thinking about donating cord blood, you should know that there are different types of banks. Here are some things that you should consider before you donate.

Private Or Public

You can donate cord blood to either a public or a private cord blood bank. In most cases, a public blood bank will use donated stem cells for scientific research. They may also be more likely to offer their cord blood to non-relatives who need a transplant. Donating your baby's umbilical cord blood to a public bank usually means that the blood will not be available for your use at a later time.

A private cord blood bank will give you more options. If you want to be able to use the same blood you donated at a later date, you should definitely go with a private bank. They will keep the blood for you, and you can be sure that your baby's blood will be available to any family member who needs it.

Profit Or Non-Profit

There is also a distinction between banks that run on profit, and those that are non-profit organizations.

Most cord blood banks are non-profit. Somewhere around 3/4 of the world's cord blood banks exist only to serve the public, and do not operate for profit. These banks use cord blood for those who need blood transplants, or to further research into cord blood use. There are public as well as private non-profit cord blood banks.

One thing to keep in mind is that non-profit banks own the cord blood once it is donated. This means that you no longer have control over what is done with it. These non-profit banks add the blood to a donor registry, which medical professionals can access when they need cord blood. They charge no fee for this.

Banks that operate for profit also store your cord blood for free, but the difference is that they sell the blood for research purposes. While this practice is illegal in many countries throughout Europe and Asia, in the United States it is perfectly legal.

Private Banks

Private cord blood banks are not run by the government. They operate independently. Because of this, they can keep the blood for you and ensure that it can be used BY YOU at a later date. Private blood banks charge a fee to keep your cord blood for you. It could be anywhere from $500-2,000, depending on the bank. Because they operate in the private sector, their prices must be competitive with one another. They also charge a yearly maintenance fee, which could be as much as $100.

The Research Public Bank System (or, RPB's)

In the last few years, many Research Public Banks (RPB's) have been established. At these institutions, cord blood is used for research purposes only. They do not offer blood for transplants to anyone. If you would like to donate your baby's cord blood for research purposes, in order to fight diseases and find new ways of using cord blood, you can donate the blood at an RPB.

With all of this in mind, you can make an informed decision about where to donate the cord blood. There is a wide variety of choices available, depending on whether you would like to donate blood to research, or whether you would like to have the blood stored for your own use. The important thing to remember is that a private cord bank will keep your cord blood for your future use, but with a public cord bank, you lose the exclusive rights to the blood.