Banks with medical need programs

Cord blood transplants from a close family member have been shown to treat or cure a number of life-threatening illnesses, such as sickle cell anemia and some leukemias. Families with a specific medical need or history of some diseases can receive free or discounted banking. At this time, medical need is defined as a sibling that currently needs a transplant; a sibling that may need a future transplant; or another family member that may need a transplant.

Families can find help at the one-stop Related Donor Cord Blood Program, a part of the National Marrow Donor Program. Patient advocates work one-on-one with affected families to determine eligibility, match families with a program and answer questions about insurance coverage. Call 1-888-999-6743 or send an email to .

• Carolinas Cord Blood Bank
  Duke Hospital,Durham Regional Hospital, UNC Hospital, Rex Hospital, Western wake Hospital and Womens Hospital of Greensboro
  Duke University Medical Center
  Durham, NC 27710
  919-668-1116
  Carolinas Cord Blood Bank at Duke University Medical Center is part of the Related Donor Cord Blood Program, promoted by the National marrow Donor Program.See website for a list of collection hospital for The Carolinas Cord Blood Bank.
  
• Cord Blood Registry (CBR) Designated Transplant Program
  1200 Bayhill Drive Suite 301
  San Bruno, CA 94066
  888-932-2023
  One of the founding principles of CBR was to ensure that a portion of the business is always focused on giving back. To fulfill this commitment, CBR developed a concept for a medical-needs-based cord blood banking program and introduced it to the market in 1996 ­ a year after the company was established. The program, which is called the CBR Designated Transplant Program (DTP), offers free cord blood banking and ensures access to genetically-related cord blood stem cells to families where a first or second-degree relative (often a sibling) to the infant being born has been diagnosed with a condition where stem cell therapy is a treatment option. To date, more than 2,000 families have enrolled in this free program. CBR's DTP covers the more than 70 diseases that are treatable by stem cells, including sickle-cell anemia and acute and chronic types of leukemia.
  
  Recently, the federal government introduced a similar program. Outlined as a provision in the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, the Related Donor Cord Blood Program is also designed to collect and store cord blood at no cost to a family where a first-degree relative has been diagnosed with a condition that can benefit from transplantation. This publicly-funded program is authorized as a three-year demonstration project and is being coordinated by the NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program) at the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  
• M. D. Anderson Cord Blood Bank
  1515 Holcombe Blvd.
  Houston, TX 77030
  800-392-1611
  Participating in the Related Donor Cord Blood Program of the National Marrow Donor Program.
  
• PacifiCord
  185 Technology Drive Suite 150
  Irvine, CA 92618
  1-888-379-CORD (2673), 1-888-379-CORD (2673)
  PacifiCord is a HealthBanks Biotech Company, which for nearly 10 years has been a leader in cord blood stem cell processing, storage and research. We are the first family bank in the world to adopt the optimum methods and technologies of the world's leading public cord blood programs, thus setting a new standard, to which few, if any other family banks have yet to follow.
  
• Puget Sound Blood Center
  921 Terry Ave.
  Seattle, WA 98104
  206-292-6500
  Is part of the Related Donor Cord Blood Program of the National Marrow Donor Program.
  
• Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program at Childrens Hospital Oakland Research Institute
  5700 Martin Luther King Jr. way
  Oakland, CA 94609-1673
  1 866 668-4895, 1 510 450-7605
  Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program provides free banking for a full family member with a need for transplant. Contact Viacord for more information @ 1 866 668-4895
  
• StemCyte
  Collects from California, Ohio, Georgia and Washington, DC, and Taiwan
  1589 W. Industrial Park St.
  Covina, CA 91722
  866-783-6298
  Stemcyte collects donations from Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Oakland Ca., Citrus Valley Medical center, west Covina, Ca., Torrance Memorial Medical Center, Torrence, Ca., and White memorial Medical Center, Los angeles, Ca.
  
• StemCyte Family
  400 Rolyn Place
  Arcadia, CA 91007
  866-389-4659, 626-821-9820
  Visit www.stemcyte.com for related donor cord blood information
  
• Texas Cord Blood Bank
  South Texas Blood and Tissue Center
  6211 IH 10 West at First Park Ten
  San Antonio, TX 78201
  800-292-5534 option 8, 210 731-5555
  Participates in the related Donor Cord Blood Program of the National Marrow Donor Program.
  
• Viacord
  245 First St.
  Cambridge, MA 02142
  866-668-4895
  The Sibling Connection Program is for families who may need a transplant for a sibling in the future. Call 1.866-861-8435.
  

Free or discounted collections and transplants are available for those who qualify. Find out more.