Bill and Guiliana Rancic Bank Baby Duke’s Cord Blood

Did you bank your children’s cord blood? I did not and now I’m wondering if I made a big mistake after a chat I had with Guiliana and Bill Rancic. Sure, I had heard about the potential benefits of cord blood and how it may some day be used to treat a child or sibling with a life-threatening illness. (Get up to speed on the latest advancements here.) But back when my three were born, I was worried about paying for diapers and childcare and eventually college tuition. I’d been the picture of health my entire life and had no genetic illness in my family to worry about, nor did my husband. Fast-forward a decade, and I’ve lost both parents to cancer and been diagnosed with it myself. Talk about gaining perspective.

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The Rancics, of course, are no strangers to health issues, which made them eager to bank newborn baby Duke’s cord blood at the Cord Blood Registry, where Guiliana’s sister has all four of her children’s stored. (As did Bears running back Brian Urlacher, the die-hard Chicago fan and new dad noted.) It costs around $2,000. “A friend of mine put it best,” Guiliana explained, “when she said ‘at first I thought it was expensive, then I realized we spent more on our TV than that.’ You buy a flat screen for that price and replace it in five or seven years. You pay for this one time and it’s an investment in your child’s future. Medicine and technology are moving so fast that who knows where we’ll be in 10 years, and to be able to call on this down the road will be amazing.”

Still feel like a stretch for your budget? Register for cord blood banking right along with that nursery furniture, stroller, and car seat you can’t wait to plop your bambino into at the CBR Gift Registry. We’re betting Grandma and Grandpa will be happy to ante up. And learn more about the cord blood banking process on the new season of “Guiliana & Bill” on the Style network, premiering at 8/7 CT Tuesday night.

Did you bank your baby’s cord blood? Leave a comment.