Families who are preparing to adopt a newborn now have the option to choose cord blood banking because, if ever needed,the cord blood may be the only genetically related source of stem cells for your child. Cryopreserving your newborn's umbilical cord blood stem cells could provide a potential medical benefit. This is especially important for ethnic minorities, which have been under-represented on the National Marrow Donor Program. Ethnic minorities and families of mixed ethnicity often have a greater degree of difficulty finding matching stem cell donors when needed, banking cord blood stem cells may provide benefit if you are among this population. The blood is processed down to the stem cells, and is then frozen for long-term cryogenic storage.
Stem cells are the building blocks of blood and the immune system.
IVF may bank cord blood because they face the possibility of not having another opportunity to secure a genetically related sample for their families.