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When 6-year-old Zara’s parents decided to store her umbilical cord blood at birth, they never would have guessed that their decision would lead to a groundbreaking achievement in Australian healthcare.
After being diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Zara became the first child in Australia with this condition to receive an infusion of her own umbilical cord blood as part of her experimental treatment.
While stem cell therapy is not yet approved as a standard treatment for cerebral palsy anywhere in the world, a dedicated team of clinicians fought for Zara to receive compassionate access under Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) Special Access Scheme.
The infusion was delivered in April 2025 at Melbourne’s Monash Children’s Hospital with the support of Cell Care, the Australian branch of CooperSurgical. According to her mom, Zara is already exhibiting positive changes.*
An important first step
Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability in children.1 The Cerebral Palsy Alliance estimates that hundreds of Australian families have travelled overseas to access cord blood therapy privately due to its limited local availability.2
Although 12 children in Australia have received sibling cord blood infusions for cerebral palsy as of 2022,3Zara is the first child in the country to be treated with her own cord blood for cerebral palsy, and the first to receive the therapy outside of a clinical trial setting
Hope beyond diagnosis
Global research has found that cord blood infusions may help repair brain injury and support improvements in gross motor skills for some children with cerebral palsy.4
While cord blood treatment may not be suitable for every child diagnosed with cerebral palsy, researchers hope Zara’s case will serve as a stepping-stone towards further research and treatment options in Australia—and around the world.
For more stories about other families who pursued cord blood treatments for cerebral palsy, please visit https://www.insception.com/blog.
