Cord Blood Banking FAQs

What is cord blood?
Cord blood is the remaining blood in a baby's umbilical cord and placenta following birth and is usually discarded. It is rich in stem cells, the building blocks of the blood and immune systems and can be collected and saved for potential medical use.

What are cord blood stem cells?
Cord blood stem cells are the building blocks of the blood and immune systems. They are the origin of white blood cells that fight infection, red blood cells that carry oxygen and platelets that promote clotting and healing.

How are cord blood stem cells used?
Cord blood stem cells are major source of hematopoietic (blood) stem cells are mostly used to help regenerate a patient’s blood and immune system that have been weakened or damaged by radiation or chemotherapy. Stem cell transplantation has been used to treat more than 45 malignant and non-malignant diseases in children and adults, including among others leukemias, anemias, lymphomas and immune disorders.

Why are cord blood stem cells preferred over bone marrow stem cells?
Cord blood stem cells offer many advantages over other stem cells, especially bone marrow stem cells, including:
- Cord blood is a rich and non-controversial source of stem cells. The collection procedure is quick and very safe and poses no risk or discomfort to mother or baby
- There is less risk of viral infection using cord blood stem cells
- Cord blood stem cells transplants cause less Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD), a transplant rejection that is the leading cause of death in stem cell transplant patients
- Cord blood stem cells can be successfully used even when there isn’t a perfect match between donor and recipient. Bone marrow transplants not only require a perfect match, but finding a donor is difficult and time consuming
- Cord blood stem cells occur in much higher concentrations than bone marrow and have greater capacity to proliferate
- A related source of stem cells such as cord blood is the preferred treatment option

What is Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD)?
Graft vs. Host Disease or GVHD is a transplant rejection that sometimes occurs following transplants. In cases of GVHD host's body rejects the donor cells considering them foreign material and generating antibodies against them.

What is HLA matching?
Human Leukocyte Antigens or HLA are six proteins that appear on the surface of white blood cells and other tissues in the body. These six HLA points determine tissue compatibility between a patient and a donor. The higher is the tissue compatibility, the higher are the chances of a transplant to be successful. Although a perfect match is always preferred, studies have shown successful cord blood transplants even when there is a match of only three or four of the six HLA points.

What are the possible future applications of cord blood stem cells?
New treatments continue to emerge as doctors and scientists research potential future treatments for a variety of diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Why should I collect and store my baby’s cord blood?
More and more parents decide to store their baby's cord blood not only for the present applications but also for the future potential uses of cord blood stem cells. Parents want the comfort and security of knowing that, if the need ever arises, their baby's cord blood stem cells are readily available. Banking a baby’s cord blood is particular important if a family has a predisposition to certain illnesses or to families with diverse ethnic backgrounds. It is also valuable for families adopting a newborn or using assisted reproductive techniques.

Should I collect and store cord blood for all of my children?
We recommend that you store cord blood stem cells for all your children to ensure an exact match for each of them. In addition, saving cord blood for all your children increases the chances of finding a match among family members. The same applies for multiple births. Not only will you have a perfect match for each baby, but because the volume collected per baby in multiple births is usually smaller, you will also potentially ensure that an adequate stem cell volume is available if a transplant is ever needed.

Can I donate my baby’s cord blood stem cells?
You can donate your baby’s cord blood, however, there are a limited number of hospitals and banks accepting donations mostly due to funds constrains. Because many families would like the option to donate their baby’s cord blood, in August 2005 Family Cord Blood Services started offering a Public Donation OptionSM. Our Public Donation Option program is an elective program combining the best aspects of both private and public cord blood banking. It enables parents to store their baby’s cord blood stem cells privately with the option to list their cord blood unit on a donation registry after a minimum of 10 years of private storage. For more information about our Public Donation OptionSM, please click here or call a cord blood educator at
800-490-CORD (2673).