No, the possibility of a public bank to collect the samples that are required is not confined to the denial of the parents to donate a material that would otherwise end up in the garbage, but from the lack of the required funding and organization. In order to cover the needs a public bank, a collection of 10% of the yearly births is required. A large part of the umbilical cord blood, in spite of the information that the parents have, continues to end up in the waste materials of the hospital. The private banks could easily and with a smaller cost contribute to the growth of the grafts that are available for the public use through an organized program of donation. The parents must be aware and give special attention in cases, when somebody with the excuse of the “public” bank, propose to pay relative large amounts in order to store a part of the material and donate the rest.
The blood of the umbilical cord that is stored in a family bank is the property of the child and only he/she in the future may use it as his/her will or even donate it.