Can cord blood be collected and stored specifically for the donor’s family in case a family member becomes sick?
Not unless the family member is currently suffering from a condition that their doctor advises could be treated with a cord blood transplant. In this case, special arrangements are made for the cord blood to be collected and stored within the Family Collection Service of the Children’s Hospital until transplant. Cord blood collected by this service is not used for the bank as if is collected under different conditions. Keeping donated cord blood specifically for private use is not part of the BMDI Cord Blood Bank charter. Testing and storage of cord blood is very expensive, and it would be a waste of resources to store units that would probably never be used.
Related Questions
- If someone in my family needs cord blood, when would they use a sample stored privately in a family bank and when would they use a sample from a public bank?
- Can cord blood be collected and stored specifically for the donor’s family in case a family member becomes sick?
- Can the placenta be stored over the weekend until cord blood can be collected?
