Q & A with Laurie
Hello everyone, my name is Laurie Walker, and I am an Adoptive Family Specialist with American Adoptions. I have worked with many birth mothers and adoptive families in my time here at American Adoptions and love being able to watch families form through adoption.
Q. With the popularity of Cord Blood Banking rising and the possibility of short or non-existent medical histories in the adoption process, we were wondering about cord blood banking. Do you find that adoptive families are choosing this option as a security for their babies? How might this work with the likelihood of an adoption through your agency being interstate? Do you have any advice on how to approach this subject with the birth mother and her doctors?
A. Thank you for your question. Cord Blood Banking is something we are asked about on a fairly regular basis, but we find that most of our adoptive couples opt not to collect and store their new baby’s cord blood. The adoption process can make it more difficult to set up and secure cord blood banking, but it has been completed successfully by some of our families who have wanted this option. The key to making this happen is 1. Ample time until the baby is born so the family can secure the kit from the agency they choose to use and get it to birth mother/hospital prior to the birth and 2. That the birth mother is in agreement with this plan and willing to bring with her the necessary objects for the cord blood to be retrieved at delivery.
There is a lot of information and there appear to be many pros and cons to Cord Blood banking. We encourage families to fully research this option through credible resources and understand the benefits and limitations involved. It is helpful to research several different cord blood companies and to research credible Medical Organizations such as “American Academy of Pediatricians” opinions about cord blood practices. If a family has an interest in Cord Blood banking, it is something your Adoption Specialist can discuss with you and your birth mother. We require families to set everything up on their own through their chosen agency and we will help facilitate and communicate with the hospital as needed to try to ensure successful collection. We cannot however guarantee in any situation that cord blood collection will be successful because of the complexities of some adoptions and many factors that can be outside of everyone’s control.
