Why is Donating Cord Blood Important?
Public Donation vs. Private Storage
For more information, please call 800.804.6703.
Indiana Cord Blood Bank
1102 Indiana Avenue (N. Stadium Drive)
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Phone: 800.804.6703
Fax: 317.917.3444
Public Donation vs. Private Storage
The decision to donate your child's cord blood or save it in private storage should be a personal decision for each family. If there is a family history of disease, or an immediate family member already has a disease that requires a stem cell transplant, cord blood from a newborn baby in the family may be the best source of cells. There is a 25% chance, for example, that cord blood will be a perfect match for a sibling. A child's cord blood will share half (3/6) of its HLA antigens with each parent. If both parents, by chance, have some of the same HLA antigens, the child's cord blood may even be a better match for a parent. However, the more distant the relative, the less likely the cord blood is to be a good match. Inventories of donated, unrelated cord blood units in public cord blood banks may be a good source of appropriate matches for parents and distant relatives, as well as for siblings that do not match.
Virtually every day new studies are being published in which stem cells isolated from various sources show potential for treatment of many different diseases. The only way these studies are possible is through public donation. If a donated cord blood unit is not suitable for potential transplant for any number of reasons, they may be used to further research being performed all over the country to enhance the use of this valuable resource.
Public donation is free, but once a unit is donated there is no guarantee that it will be available for the family that donated it originally. Private companies will store cord blood for anyone who wants it done. However, there are fees for private storage. For information on private storage in Indiana, please see: www.thegenesisbank.com. For more information on the advantages and disadvantages of private storage vs. public donation, please see: www.parentsguidecordblood.com.