Cord Blood Banking? Questions to Ask

I have noticed that many reps have questions about should I bank my baby's stem cells? and How do I properly vet a company?
Stem cells are quickly growing in popularity and use. Where there is a dollar to be made, the companies will follow. That being said, many companies are jumping on the band wagon. Don't get caught in their trap. While this industry is very viable and growing, so to should the term caveat emptor be applied. Buyer Beware! Having been in the pharmaceutical industry for 17 years and moving to this side of the fence, I have found much hair splitting, truth stretching and word smithing. Beyond the standard savvy rep. Here are a few things to look for: Longevity of a company. Many companies were started in the 1990's. Those banks are still here today. Other companies are only 3-4 years old but they have attached themselves to public banks or other accredited institutions and claim those accreditations and processing numbers. For example. One of the leaders of Stemcyte, was "let go" and he created Cari-Cord, which started a joint venture with the University of Colorado's public bank. They process in the same lab as the public bank but that is were the similarities stop. They claim they have all the accreditations of the public bank and have had over 700 samples used for transplant. But, in actuality they might have 1 by now. If you analyze their record on line they have 0. That is just one example of buyer beware. That said make sure you look for Longevity, Accreditations-FACT (public banks strive for FACT accreditation, just in the past 2 years private banks have been given the chance to earn FACT as well) and AABB (Private bank accreditations), Processing technologies, Money back guarantees and Quality guarantees, on the front side(contaminated or bad sample) and once you bank, on the back side. If you ever have to pull your stem cells and they are not viable. This is important. Every legitimate company will have basically an insurance policy that will pay out if you store your stem cells and when thawed they are not viable. The dollar amount will range from $25,000, $35,000, $50,000 and even $75,000. This seems to be an indicator of a companies success with use. The more success a company has the more money they will pay out if your sample is not viable upon thaw. There are companies out there right now who have a $0 insurance policy. This is not acceptable! As of right now those companies are Cari-Cord and Family Cord. When asked why, they said it was a marketing ploy. Are you willing to risk your child's life on that? I will take the $75,000 dollars please Alex. Please make an educated smart decision and caveat emptor.

 

Most babies feel that banking is a noble profession. But we are all too young to make a committment to accept banking as a career!
And just for personal knowledge, we all know CBR is the top baby producer in America. Our babies do best educationally, intellectually, and with successful careers. (CBR Baby#1 is in his final year of law school). Wow!
Our babes don't need stem cells. We just need each other, and the guidance of CBR!

With kisses,
CBR Baby# 16