Cord Blood Banking

J

joyofliving

Registered User
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.
 
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.
 
but also make sure you check that they can still collect at Queen Mary. not sure how collection works at public hospitals.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
Healthbaby is a TW company, found in HK for 1-2 years
whereas for the singaporian company, Cordlife, it's around 3 years~
From what I know, Cryolife is a HK based company, newly accreditated by AABB.
 
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If anyone wants to use Cordlife, I can refer you and both of us will get a discount. Send me a message if you are interested.
 
I have heard from other expecting parents that the father may be able to collect the cord blood after delivery in a public hospital (specifically QMH). Smart cells apparently provides training to the father/couple on how to do this. Obviously the couple would have to be quite firm at the time of delivery about getting the opportunity to do this.
 
Thinking of going with Smart Cells

Hi,

Has anyone signed with Smart Cells? Do they offer an interest free credit option? Does it cost anthing to use the cord blood if needed? Do they also offer a discount if refered by parents who have already signed with them?

My husband will have to collect the placenta, so i guess i'll have to go to the hospital to request this be carried out at the time of my baby's birth.

I'll be delivering at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin. Has anyone already collected the sample at this hospital?

Thanks in advance for your help.
mea
 
i stored mine with cordlife. They have offices around the world and has referral fee as well. Not the cheapest but price is not very different from competitors.
 
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