Cord blood banking involves preserving your child's cord blood so that just in case he/she needs treatment that involves stem cells, you get a 100% match (for siblings, it's 75%) Right now, you might be saying, what are the chances that my child would be diagnosed with lukemia or a similar disease? I'm sure the parents of children with those type of sicknesses were thinking of the same thing. More and more research has been going on about how to broaden the scope of diseases that can be treated with the help of stem cells. But still, is it worth it?
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| one day old Ben - seemed like ages ago!!! |
Think of storing your cord blood as like having a biological insurance. You hope you won't need it, but just in case you end up doing so, you'll be relieved to have made the investment. It takes a lot of commitment though. Aside from the initial amount you pay forthe service, there's the annual fee that you have to spend for. That's some serious expense considering you have to save up for the baby's daily needs and future (like tuition!)
Nonetheless, this is something really worth thinking about as future parents. Thankfully, there are two companies that offer this service in the country. Cordlife now has a storage facility in Manila, making it more accessible. They also use Sepax, an automated blood processing technology approved by the US FDA. Stemcord, on the other hand, offers multiple containers to be stored in two different locations for security.
I suggest you check them out then decide if such an option is for you. Just be firm with the companies' representatives if you decide not to go ahead with it or still need more time. Like all other agents, they can be very persuasive. Also, try not to wait until your baby is close to full term before deciding since you will probably be busy with the nitty gritty stuff to carefully think about it.
Hope this post helps :)
I got cordlife. I've been wanting to store my baby's blood for a long time but only got to know that it already existed in thePhilippines last year. So I got it for my bunso.
ReplyDeleteYes the initial cash out is huge but I got to pay it in installment. Yearly payment would be for the storage na lang so it's way cheaper than the first payment. If only I knew about it a long time ago, I would have gotten it for all of my kids.
Thanks for dropping by!!! :) Yup, we got cordlife for Ben, too and we're glad we did!
ReplyDeleteIts great to know that this has come in the Philippines. I am sure many would be happy to store or preserve their child's cord blood. Though the price is quite high but its all worth it.. :) I have also read useful information in cord blood nationwide which helps me to understand more about this stuff.
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