cord blood banking

Hello,

We were considering cord blood banking to store the stem cells. I found 2 companies here in US: ViaCord and CBR (www.cordblood.com). The prices of both are comparable ($2000 for cord blood, $3000 for both cord blood and cord tissue). any recommendations on which one is better or if there is any other better known and tried company?

by the way, both have a $250 discount going on. all i had to do was just ask for any discounts and they were ready to give.

thanks!

Hi Sumit,

They both look like good companies, but to be sure try checking with Eileen from CAF and see if they have any opinion on either company.

Patient Services Manager
Eileen Scott
eileen.s@cooleysanemia.org
CAF
(800)522-7222

Thanks Andy. I checked with Eileen and she mentioned that either company is good. but they have used and interacted more with ViaCord. So, I will go with ViaCord.

By the way, Eileen was very approachable and friendly.

I also asked her about cord tissue. She did some research and got back to me very quickly. She mentioned that for thal, cord blood is what is more relevant. cord tissue is still under research and could be used in future for bones, cartilages, etc.

What's cord tissue?

There is some quick overview here:
  http://www.viacord.com/cord-tissue-stem-cell-banking.htm

It says:

"The difference between cord blood and cord tissue stem cells

Many expectant parents today are familiar with cord blood banking – the collection and cryopreservation of stem cells extracted from the umbilical cord blood at birth. ViaCord now offers parents the opportunity to also extract and cryopreserve the stem cells found in the umbilical cord tissue.

Umbilical cord tissue is an additional source and an abundant source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are expected to play a critical role in the treatment of disease and are being studied in great detail for their regenerative properties in cartilage, muscle, and nerve cells. There are no medical treatments currently available today using stem cells extracted from cord tissue. However, there is a significant amount of research underway to better understand their potential value. Over 55 studies using MSCs extracted from cord tissue underscore their importance to the scientific community."
--

Companies are good but you must find any person who has the practical experience with them.It is very important.

Sumit,
We saved our daughter's cord blood with CBR. We too were indecisive between the same two choices as yours as they are both good on paper (no practical experience again). We chose CBR finally because the installments worked better for us and we saved some money through the reference program.

-SK