Cord Blood Banking

Posted by Babeez (279 days ago)

Hi all,

I am approaching my 33rd week of pregnancy and our doc asked us if we wanted to bank our baby's cord blood. I was just wondering if anyone had done this and how much they paid. In the brochure we were given, it costs 33K but the doctor said it was around 20K but he was in a rush and hubby wasn't there so i didn't probe further.

Has anyone banked their baby's cord blood? Could you tell me the cost and with which company you went with?

(I am based in Hong Kong)

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Posted by EKelly (272 days ago)

We used CBR in the US for my first child and are going to use the same for the 2nd child due in mid-January. It is about US$1,500 for the inital deposit and 1st year's storage and then I think US$150 a year for storage after that. Shipping from HK to the US will be about US$150.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by sbm (269 days ago)

We are going to bank the cord of our next baby. I went with the recommendation of my OB - you might want to check with yours. I wouldn't want to mention the company we are going to use because I have only filled out the forms and so don't have any real experience of them. As I say we went with our OB's recommendation. One factor you might want to take into account is where you want the blood to be stored - I think generally it is stored either in the US or UK. Obviously if you plan to live long term in one of those countries it might make sense to use one based in the "right" place. We're paying HK$28,000 for everything including 25 years storage.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by nico852 (269 days ago)

Hi,
We used SmartCell, which is UK based but they have an office in Stanley Street in Central. All in all very easy. You contact them about the "user kit" which you have to pass to your OB beforehand. They require a blood test which you can easily arrange through your OB too. We paid HK$20k for 17 years of storage. Once the blood has been collected you just call SmartCell or their special courier service and they show up at the hospital. They pick the kit up an you will receive a letter from them after around 3 weeks confirming whether or not they were able to extract the cells from the blood. After that it is all done and you hope that you will never need it!

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Babeez (269 days ago)

Thanks all,

Will talk with our Doc tomorrow. We are planning to stay long-term in HK. 20K was what our doc quoted so i will ask him about it. Yes, i hope none of us will ever need it but just the thought that if something happened and we never did what we could makes it a hard decision. Still, when you work it out over 17 years, it's like $98 a month, not bad at all...

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by nico852 (269 days ago)

That was exactly what we thought too. It is a bit like an insurance. you pay the premium and hope never to need it. Which OB do you use. Gosh is good and has lots of experience with it.

(I am based in Hong Kong)