Cord Blood Registry Pros And Cons

Are you interested in saving your child’s cord blood? Here are the cord blood registry pros and cons you should know before you spend your money on private cord blood banking.

The umbilical cord is a precious thing. It connects to the placenta serving as a source of oxygen and nutrition. Before, this tissue was discarded routinely after delivery. That’s because doctors and scientists didn’t find its uses yet.

But it’s starting to change now. Because of the many medical uses of cord blood, more and more parents decide to bank or store their baby’s cord blood for the future.

Now, we know that this tissue is rich in stem cells that can develop into major components of the blood, like RBCs, WBCs, and platelets. The cord blood cells can transform into other blood cells making them ideal to treat diseases that damage the blood and immune systems.

In other words, cord blood can be a gold mine for treatment. It may cure several diseases. For now, scientists have only proven to treat some diseases but it’s not a cure-all.

Read: Does Cord Blood Help Autism?

To preserve these life-saving cells, they can be stored. You can choose to bank it in a private or a public cord blood bank.

Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of a private cord blood registry.

Cord Blood Registry Pros and Cons

Pros

You can decide who can use your baby’s stem cells.

The stem cells are less likely to be rejected if they are transplanted to a related family member. In that case, you don’t have to search for an unrelated donor who can be a match.
The use of related stem cell transplants is twice more successful than the use of cord blood from a public donor.

Cons

There are fees in collecting and storing cord blood. And they are exorbitant.

The cord blood from your baby may contain the disease that should be used to treat. In that case, it’ll be useless.
Now, let’s talk about banking your child’s cord blood in a public cord blood bank.

Public Cord Blood Banking Pros and Cons

Public cord blood can also offer cord blood banking. It entails no cost to you as long as you meet the donation requirements.

Pros

As mentioned, it’s free to save your child’s cord blood to a public cord blood registry.
The stem cells are accessible to anyone who may need them.
You’re helping a lot of people so they don’t have to search for a match.

Cons

Once you donate your child’s cord blood, you can no longer use the stem cells when you need them.
It’s useful if you talk to your doctor before you make a decision.
When you learn that cord blood cells can treat some devastating diseases, it’s truly welcome news to you and your spouse.

Even though stem cells are promising, the diseases that stem cell blood transplantation might be used are rare. But if you have a family history of diseases that can be corrected with stem cell transplantation, like sickle cell anemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, then you might want to consider it seriously.

Conclusion

Now that you know the cord blood registry pros and cons, we hope that you can decide wisely. Should you decide to save it or donate it, you need to decide before your childbirth. In that way, your doctor can contact a private or public cord blood bank to collect the cord blood.

If you wish to know more about the benefits of cord blood, please visit here.