Cord Blood and Tissue Banking - Why is it so difficult to understand?

As we are ticking down to the last 3 months, my husband and I have decided that we are going to bank our last child's cord blood and tissue. With our first daughter, we thought about it and was in a bit of denial and lack of understanding. When we had a scare with our daughter, I told myself that I would have paid anything to even have a backup plan. So, although I have a huge guilt now that I didn't do it for my first daughter, I won't make the same mistake again.

Now, after reading all the brochures and talking to my OB about it, I still extremely confused about all the different banks and what makes them different. I've read other blogger's blogs and have done some research down to reading FDA reports. However, I'm getting extremely confused with all the scientific terms and wish there was some description about it.

Here is the thing why its so important to understand the difference between these banks.
1. They are NOT all the same. They have different collection methods and processing methods. This results in different collections and what is important to you make not be what will be available to you later if you were to ever need it.
2. There are different price points and these banks try to entice you with a better price. But when you are spending thousands, do you really care about $100 to $200 difference versus the quality of the collection.
3. The locked in storage price is different among them and when they will change the locked in price. So, it is important for you to have some kind of long term plan on how long you plan on storing it. Sometimes, the volume collected is only good for up to a 10 yr old, so why pay for more storage after that. Or, a lot of the available future treatments will have been recognized in your child prior to reaching adulthood, so do you need to pay for more than say 18 years? Or, are you banking on future scientific research and planning on paying for the storage for as long as you can.

My biggest concern of all the 3 I've listed above is #1. I have #2 answered for myself. I'm not going to let their price point cloud my judgement because its minor in the long run. And #3, I think I have time to decide that as we go as long as I know the companies policies and contract ahead of time.

But, I cannot find answers to #1. What are the pros and cons of each bank's collection/transport method and their processing method? If I collect more volume of blood cells, am I getting more of what I need or will it be diluted with the other cells along with it? Also, based on their collection methods, when its time for engraftment, what will the quality be like and the success rate? What is the success rate at 10 yrs and 20 yrs? With so many new collection methods, do we even have data to will go that far?

So, I will be contacting the local reps of 2 of the banks as I have already eliminated it down to 2. Lets see if they get back to me and what information I will get. Hopefully I will get this info in time before this little girl arrives!