Can cord blood donations be divided between both a private and public bank?
There is only a limited volume of blood that can be collected from the umbilical cord and placenta. If the amount of blood collected is too small, it may not be useful for transplant purposes. Expectant parents should choose between providing all the cord blood to a private, for-profit bank or to a public blood bank like the NJCBB. How long can the blood be stored for use in later transplantation or research? If testing shows that the cord blood is suitable for transplantation, it will be stored by the NJCBB until it is given to a person who needs a stem cell transplant or until it is no longer suitable for storage. If cord blood is not suitable for transplantation, it may be used for research or may be discarded using standard hospital practices. It is not known how long frozen cord blood may be useful for later transplantation. Experiments have shown clearly that the stem cells remain healthy for at least a decade when stored properly. As this new technology evolves, further testing
