“Are you planning to bank the cord blood?” my obstetrician asked during one of my regular prenatal appointments.

“I don’t know,” I told her. “Do you think I should?”

She told me she had done it for her children. She handed me a brochure. She said researchers are making progress on figuring out how to treat all kinds of diseases, including diabetes and heart disease, using stem cells. The possibilities are big, she told me. She had been impressed during a tour of the local facility of Cord Blood Registry, the company featured on the brochure I now held in my hand.

Banking a baby’s cord blood is not inexpensive. The initial fee is $1,975, which includes storage for the first year. After that, storage costs $125 per year. Still, after giving it some thought, my husband and I decided to do it. Not only could it potentially save our son’s life someday, there was also a good chance that he would be a match for our older daughter and for us. We decided to spend the money to buy something that we hoped we would never need.

I cannot tell you how well the technology works. As I said, I hope I never need to find that out. I can tell you that working with the company, Cord Blood Registry, was simple. I called the number on the brochure and a helpful representative answered my questions and registered me over the phone. My husband and I took a kit with us to the hospital on the morning of the delivery. My doctor saved the valuable blood, and Cord Blood Registry sent a courier to my hospital room to pick it up. Once everything had been processed, the company billed our credit card.

If you decide to bank your baby’s cord blood, I recommend Cord Blood Registry based on the customer service we have received. And I hope that you too will be spending thousands of dollars on something you never need.