Donation recipient
The Swiss Blood Stem Cells supports public-anonymous and family donations, which benefit the public or an already ill family member.
Public-anonymous donation
With public-anonymous (public banking) donation of cord blood, the collected blood stem cells are frozen in non-profit cord blood banks and are available worldwide for all patients who might have the need.
Familial
This type of donation is considered when a family member of a pregnant woman, usually a child or parent, suffers from a disease which can be treated through transplantation of blood stem cells.
As with "normal" blood stem cell donations from adults, the chance of a tissue match between the donor and recipient within the same family is relatively high (about 25%).
Private banking
In recent years commercial businesses have started offering storage of cord blood of a child. This service must be paid for. The idea behind this "private" storage of cord blood is to help the same child later should he or she become ill. The Swiss Foundation Blood Stem Cells does not participate in this field.