In 2002, Auckland parents Daniel and Jillian Friedlander were blessed with beautiful twin girls Maia and Arielle. Life couldn’t have been better.

That was until Maia failed to meet the usual development milestones.

Maia had suffered oxygen deprivation at birth which left her “disconnected” and developmentally delayed. Thankfully they had banked both girls cord blood with CordBank – just in case.

That simple decision was life changing. Her parents call it the “best decision we ever made.”

A reinfusion of Maia’s cord blood cells took place in August 2008 — making her the first New Zealand and 50th child to undergo the process at Duke University in the US.

A year later, the family is thrilled with Maia’s continued progress. “We couldn’t be more grateful for the dramatic change it has made to our lives and want to make sure other families save their baby’s cord blood at birth.”

View a video of Maia’s story

Two CordBank families have already successfully used their children’s stored cord blood.

Neither family had any pre-existing medical reason to save their baby’s cord blood – but saw it as an opportunity to plan for the future. It was a decision that has changed their lives and the lives of their families.

Parent of a child treated for cancer in 2007

It is now about 18 months since our child was treated with her own cord cells and she appears to have made a miraculous recovery from a stage 4 cancer that nearly killed her. We are truly grateful that we entered into this scheme which is like an insurance policy that you hope never to have to call upon. It has given our family hope. The financial cost was a very small price to pay.

Medical researchers believe that stem cell therapy has the potential to radically change the treatment of human disease. Exciting advances are being made in the area of regenerative medicine where cord blood stem cells are already being used to treat brain injury.