If you have made the decision to save the umbilical cord blood after the birth of your child, you have two options for doing so. You could choose to have it privately stored at a private bank, or you could donate it to a public blood banking system. There are pros and cons of each, and only you can decide which is best for you.

Here are the main reasons for donating to a public cord blood banking institution:

Donating is more economical because it's free. It will not cost you anything to donate umbilical cord blood to a public banking system. Private banks charge on average $100 yearly for storage. Only you can decide if the money spent is worth the cost for something you might not even use.

By donating umbilical blood to public banking institutions, you are giving a chance at life to other people without any expense on your part. Should you ever need your donated stem cells, they will still be there for your use if nobody needed them before you. If you end up never needing them, your donation may provide life-saving value to someone who desperately did need it.

Donating umbilical blood in the public banking system does not limit your access to it unless it was used. Public and government-regulated cord blood banking institutions give priority to donors if they need their donated blood. The likelihood is slim that your donated umbilical blood will be used. Lawrence Petz from StemCyte - a top public/private umbilical blood bank - estimates that only 5% of banked donations are used.

Here are the main reasons for private blood banking storage:

While your donation might not get used, it is still quite possible that it will not be there for you in the event that you need it. The probability of 1 in 20 is too high for some people to take the chance.

Stem cell research is advancing at a rapid rate. Medical advancements in the use of stem cells are being announced nearly every month. The latest indications are that, under the right circumstances, stem cells in cord blood can be "teased" to grow into other types of tissue rather than blood. Having your cord blood stored at a private bank means that you retain ownership and it will be there for you in the future should medical procedures advance to the point where you will need it. Owning and storing it privately is a type of medical insurance.

There are some initial fees to set up your account and registration. After that, the yearly fee for private cord blood storage is approximately $100 per year. That is a very minimal cost.

Some critics of private cord blood banking argue that public storage is safer due to the fact that private banks seek profit. However, that is not a valid argument. If a public cord blood bank mishandles the donation in any way, it can simply be labeled an accident and the institution continues to exist. Conversely, if a private bank mishandles a donation, accident or not, that news will drive its customers away to a safer facility, and the business will cease to exist. Because private banks are operating for a profit, their very existence depends upon how well they handle and store the donations. Private cord blood banks are every bit as safe as public ones. When choosing between public or private, safety of storage need not be a concern.