sisses, Just want to share my experience with cordlife..
i went to cordlife yesterday and talked to my account rep, Ms Michelle Villamiel. Ganda sa UP ayala land techno hub. Bldg H located ang cordlife, nasa extreme back left side ng compound and mind u, pay parking pala ang buong lugar at 80 fixed rate. syempre, nagcomplain ako k ms michelle about that kasi ang mahal eh (kuripot ba? hehe). eh andun kami for the presentation of cordlife without commitment at ang lawak ng front parking sa bldg ng cordlife, magpapabayad pa.
so much for the parking fee issue (which was resolved free by michelle btw), she presented the benefits of stem cell using umbilical cord blood for banking. like what i said to my husband, this is an easy product to sell because there's nothing wrong with being insured with medical assurance such as this esp with the fast pacing progressive medical technology, who knows the next thing that the stem cell can do is to make a baby out of it etc

even if it's kinda pricey, you'll make an effort to secure the future of your baby eh kaya ieeffort ko tlaga ko (goodbye pampering days) lalo na ako, i have an existing SLE illness kaya baka maipasa ko pa sa kanila ang disease ko, if not them, the next generation, at least may one chance of treatment for them na baka makatulong...no joke at twins pa ngayon ang magiging first babies ko..
so to make things short, we enrolled with a referral discount of 4k. here are the expenses:
For the annual payment (18 years to pay)
40,000 upfront fee (25000 nonrefundable if cord blood not suitable for storage)
4000 less referral fee
TOTAL 36000
8000 additional fee for the Sepax processing (machine operated)
TOTAL 44000
VAT 12% 5280
OVERALL TOTAL 49280 payable in 12months check

starting day of signing for the 1st month then succeeding month on date of birth til the 12th month so around 4106.67 per month payment ako for the DP. (November 2010 then March 2011 until Janaury 2012)
annual payment will be 8000+ VAT =8960 paid on their birthday until they reach 18 years old.
TOTAL INVESTMENT UNTIL 18 = 210,560
option na namin or my baby na magcontinue at legal age.
DISAVANTAGE:
the stem cord cell is good only for one (1) use so if in the future, they will need again, wala na pag ginamit na sa either one of the member of the family.
if at an early age, 18 below, nagamit na ang stem cell, no need to pay until 18 kasi obviously, wala na nakabank na stem cell kaya tapos na rin ang contract with them kaya yung estimated 210k na yun, is pag very healthy naman ang lahat at walang gumamit...
pag naman gusto magcancel,/terminate ng contract after naibank na ang stem cell, di na ata marerefund yung mga binayad?pero yung remaining years, magiging for use na ng cordlife ang stem cell ng child mo, which is sayang naman...
meron din silang 10 yrs or 18 year plan prepaid na so kung kaya nyo rin ipay in 12month check/card ang 170k or 160k sa isang taon, well yun ang may refund pag in case earlier ang gamit nyo kasi nabayad nyo na until 18 years.discounted...kasi ang free annual payment is one pag 10 year plan then 3 years free naman pag 18yr plan ang binayaran.
this is to give you an insight para at least meron na kayo idea kung how much eto kasi yun naman ang impt aside sa benefits na makukuha sa pagiinvest natin sa ganito kung kaya o kakayanin o di talaga pede. very new kasi sa atin ang ganitong tech kaya parang hesistant iconsider. pero i tell u, once you have lost a loved one due to no choice..u'd do anything just to save his/her life no matter what the cost. sabi nga ng nanay ko, ang pera kinikita pa yan kahit paghirapan mo pa, kaya wag manghinayang.
hope to bring info to all of us here moms to be

belly rubs!