Your DNA!

personily it shouldent be hard but unfortantly the are so many different types.

Different transplant centers accept different levels of patient and donor matching for a bone marrow or cord blood transplant. You can find the match requirements of specific centers in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) U.S. transplant center listings under Mismatches allowed. When a transplant center looks at matching, it is looking at how alike the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue types of the patient and the donor are to each other. HLA is a term used to describe protein markers that are found on most of the body's cells. HLA markers are important in matching patients and donors for a bone marrow, peripheral blood cell (PBSC) or cord blood transplant. See HLA Matching: Finding the Best Donor or Cord Blood Unit to learn more about HLA and how transplant centers use it to help select the best available donor or cord blood unit for a patient. To view the number of potential donors and cord blood units you may have on the Be The Match RegistrySM operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), see MatchView®. MatchView also includes information to help you understand HLA matching and the next steps in the search and transplant process. Transplant Costs at Different Centers There are many costs tied to having an unrelated donor bone marrow or cord blood transplant. Each center varies on what it charges for different services, and these costs change from year to year. For example, the cost of a cord blood unit varies and is established by individual cord blood banks. Finding cost information for specific transplant centers You can find information on transplant costs at different centers in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) U.S. transplant center listings. The costs for the unrelated donor search and collecting the donated cells (procurement) are listed in the section titled Estimated Search & Transplant Costs. These costs may vary significantly because of differences in how they are grouped and reported. Keep in mind that the costs listed are a small part of the total cost of a transplant. They are only the costs specific to the donor search and services that occur before the transplant. Your out-of-pocket expenses will vary depending on your specific health care plan. Learning about your insurance coverage It is very important to find out early in the process what kind of coverage you have for transplant. Every health care plan pays for the transplant process in different ways. Some pay for all of it, some pay for part of it and some do not pay for it at all. Some plans require you to go to specific transplant centers. Your health care plan has customer service staff and case managers to answer your questions about coverage. They will also be able to tell you which NMDP transplant centers are covered and at what rate.