Cord Blood Banking

[joyofliving]

Hi,
We are planning to get our baby's cord blood stored after the baby's birth. I would be delivering at Queen Mary's and would be interested in knowing if they have such faciliity or if they willingly participate with private cord blood banks after delivery for collection.
Has anyone stored their baby's cord blood here in HK? Any info would be helpful.

 

[signorinakaren]

Cryolife

I've recently engaged Cryolife for cord blood banking.This is their website you could check or call to enquire:
http://www.cryolife.com.hk/index.php
There is another well known name that i saw at my Dr's clinic, can't remember the name now.
There is this other website that has a list of all the cord blood banks:
http://parentsguidecordblood.org/content/usa/banklists/listasia.shtml

hope these info help!

 

[boo]

The main ones are cryolife, cordlife, healthbaby and smartcells in HK.
I think most are for18 yrs and the Smartcells 25yrs maxium, ranges up to about 28k if i can remember for the full period, some options for also 5, 10 yrs. Interst free installments are available for some.

 

[kellyst]

but also make sure you check that they can still collect at Queen Mary. not sure how collection works at public hospitals.

 

[annahk]

We used SmartCells (http://www.smartcells.com/index.php?lang=hk) on the recommendation of my obstetrician. The fact that the cells are stored in the UK also influenced our decision. We hope never to have to use the cells, but if we do, we are likely to be back in London.

 

[jube]

You should definitely review all 3/4 companies in HK and work out what is best for you. Like Mum of 2 mentioned, if you are planning to leave HK in the future, you may want a company that is based in the country you are hoping to return to.

I also suggest that you meet with them and have a look at their draft contracts before you make your decision.

Also, do they go to government hospitals? The reason being is that it is your ob-gyn that harvests the cells and you need to be able to harvest a certain number of cells for it to be successful.

We ended up going with Health Baby on the recommendation of our ob-gyn. We paid the entire amount upfront and ended getting 2 years bonus storage. So far, I have found their after sales service to be very good.

My ob-gyn also recommended we visit the website cordblood.org, a US site to do some research.

 

[ManMan]

I understand that there are four companies collecting cord blood: Cryolife (ten years), SmartCells (UK-based, blood stored in the UK), HealthBaby (Taiwanese parent company, 5 years in HK, Lee Lai Shan in their ads), and Cordlife (Singaporan company, 3 years in HK, 7 years in Singapore, listed in the Australian stock exchange). They do NOT collect cord blood in public hospitals. Their price plans are between $28K and $31K (18 years storage). We haven't decided which company to go with, because it's not possible to find "the best" as this whole procedure is a form of insurance, and one only hopes that day when such blood is needed will never come... But any suggestions and comments are welcome.

 

[cemily]

Alternatively, you may wish to donate it to Red Cross.

Rgds

e

 

[Heikeli]

When we decided to store the cordblood, my doc said that the red cross in HK is never coming to collect the cordblood - they are not trained and prepared (shortage of people). Furthermore you have no guarantee that you get this for your baby when you need it. It will be donated for anyone in need.
We found it difficult too. We did choose cordlife, they gave us a good impression.

 

[hoimaloima]

Cord Blood Banking: Have You Done It?

Hello,

I am writing an article about cord-blood banking and am curious if anyone who has done it would be willing to talk to me about it. Please let me know!

Best,
Amy