May 1, 2026 – The Children’s Organ Transplant Association is a national nonprofit with an unwavering commitment to its mission to provide fundraising guidance and family support as The Trusted Leader Supporting Families … For a Lifetime. COTA was founded in April 1986 when an Indiana family could not afford the liver transplant their toddler son needed to survive. Their family members and friends canvassed neighborhoods and county fairs to collect cash and coins to help. That first group of volunteers formed the foundation of what would grow to become COTA.
Twenty years later in May 2006, a family in Indianapolis heard the same devastating news — their two-month old daughter needed a liver transplant to survive. Lauren Seiders, and her twin Owen, were born on May 26th. Both babies were happy, but both were jaundiced. Owen’s jaundice resolved; Lauren’s did not. At two months of age, Lauren was diagnosed with a rare liver disease called biliary atresia, which affects 1 in every 12,000 newborns in the United States. This congenital condition can lead to progressive liver damage, cirrhosis and ultimately liver failure. Only a few decades ago, babies died from this disease.
Lauren’s first year of life was filled with doctors, procedures, infections and lots of waiting. The twins’ first birthday was spent in an intensive care unit. Her parents, Suzanne and Jim, received ‘the call’ on July 11, 2007, that a liver was available. Lauren received her transplant that day; it was a good match but ended up not having proper blood flow. Due to the severity of her condition, she was listed again as status one, and 14 days later on July 25th, she received her second liver — and her second chance at life.
While Suzanne, Jim and Lauren were basically living at Riley Hospital, Suzanne’s sister, who lived in the Chicago area, desperately wanted to help. Julie Comerford started researching organizations that might be able to provide some relief for her sister’s family. On February 26, 2007, Julie called the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA), to see if they might be able to help reduce some of the Seiders’ family stress.
Suzanne remembers, “We had never heard of COTA. I remember when my sister shared the information she had received from COTA, my first reaction was, ‘WOW. They are right here in Bloomington, Indiana.’ We agreed she could take the lead on working with COTA. but we never really expected anything ‘big’ to come of it.”
Throughout 2007 as they were consumed by Lauren’s medical care and caring for their other children, Julie was working steadily to build a team of COTA volunteers. “It was a huge surprise when we started to get a better understanding of how significant being part of COTA was going to be for our family,” Suzanne said. She specifically remembers returning to their Indianapolis home after Lauren’s second liver transplant, and their first trips to the pharmacy for Lauren’s post-transplant medications. They soon discovered the amount they would owe each month, after insurance paid its portion, was somewhere between $6,000 and $8,000 for her medications.
“I still have a vivid memory of standing at the pharmacy and hearing we owed thousands of dollars for one pickup of Lauren’s medications,” Suzanne said. “Today all these years later, it is still a strong memory.”
Lauren was featured 15 years ago in COTA’s 2009 Calendar; the story of her two liver transplants was the media story COTA shared throughout April (National Donate Life Month) that year. At the time, the Suzanne thought Lauren’s two liver transplants would be the largest hurdle their baby, and their family, would have to overcome.
The Seiders had no idea they were actually just starting what would become a very long transplant journey with their daughter. After her second birthday, Lauren started to struggle with numerous medical issues which led to many tests and transplant team consultations. During the fall of 2008, the toddler underwent a multivisceral transplant (stomach, pancreas, liver, and small intestines) and also received two kidney transplants. A year later when Lauren was three, she developed PTLD — a type of lymphoma some transplant recipients develop. At the end of her PTLD treatment, Lauren’s next several years calmed a bit with more ‘normal’ pediatric issues including hernia repair, ear tubes and a tonsillectomy.
During this time, the committed team of COTA for Lauren S volunteers continued to move forward with fundraising efforts. The volunteers were family members from different areas of the Midwest and the Seiders’ friends in Indianapolis. Suzanne said her sister, the team’s Community Coordinator, found amazing people to take on other COTA for Lauren S leadership roles in the areas of media engagement, event communications, volunteer recruitment and fundraising event management. Today, nearly two decades since the team launched their fundraising effort, Suzanne is still in awe of how incredibly organized COTA was … even back then … in terms of resources, guidance and staff support.
“My sister and dear Indianapolis friends never hesitated and never stopped,” Suzanne said. “They connected with COTA, identified volunteers who could help, used the resources COTA provided at the time and then – they did it. No questions. No hesitation. They just did it!”
Suzanne distinctly remembers a garage sale her sister and the COTA team organized in their Indianapolis neighborhood. “The night before this COTA for Lauren S fundraiser, our little girl was finally released from Riley Hospital for Children. Driving her home, we started to see flyers posted everywhere about the garage sale. When we reached the entrance to our neighborhood, there were yards and driveways filled with tents and tables stacked with items.” She also remembers the local news arriving that evening to interview the COTA volunteers who were setting everything up and to speak with Jim and Suzanne about Lauren’s transplant journey.
“Our COTA volunteers raised $10,000 from that ‘yard’ sale. It was unbelievable,” Suzanne said. “When you are facing a transplant journey like we were travelling (and are continuing to travel) with Lauren, sometimes it is hard to see light shining through. But we certainly did that night bringing our little girl home from Riley and driving through our neighborhood. It is hard to describe all the emotions we felt, but it gave us hope and positivity. It signaled to us that things were ultimately going to be OK with Lauren.”
In a short amount of time, the COTA for Lauren S team of volunteers raised $100,000, which included an anonymous $20,000 donation and a generous $10,000 gift from two of Jim and Suzanne’s most cherished friends. Suzanne and Jim were amazed, and grateful, that for almost six years post-transplant, gifts to COTA in Lauren’s honor continued to be received. They were also grateful that Lauren continued to thrive for many years.
In 2024, Lauren graduated, with her twin brother, from North Central High School in Indianapolis. Immediately following their graduation ceremony, Lauren was admitted to the hospital due to a partial bowel obstruction. In August, Lauren followed her dream and moved nearly three hours away from home and her medical team to attend Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Her first year of college seemed to fly by, according to Suzanne.
“With everything she deals with medically, Lauren had a really good first year of college,” Suzanne said. “It was very tough for me to leave her at her dorm so far away from home. But she successfully managed her monthly bloodwork appointments and regular trips to the pharmacy. At one point Lauren came down with a bad case of norovirus and had to call an ambulance to pick her up at her dorm room and take her to the hospital for treatment. She knew exactly what she needed to do.”
Lauren finished her first year of college and did a great job managing her coursework and her post-transplant challenges. She also decided to switch majors – a decision that was directly linked to her nearly 20-year transplant journey to date. Her major is now psychology with a child life emphasis. Lauren’s goal is to become a child life specialist in a transplant center. This career focus shift is due to the many positive experiences Lauren has had over the years with Riley Hospital’s child life specialists who have been huge role models for her. Lauren remembers Legos, coloring books and games they would bring to her hospital room – during multiple hospital stays – throughout her childhood. According to Suzanne, during the early years of Lauren’s life the child life specialists provided a much-needed distraction each time they visited her hospital room. They obviously made a huge impression on Lauren and now on her career pathway.
Lauren’s dream job, post college, is to work at Riley Hospital for Children as a child life specialist.
The Seiders Family has been associated with COTA for many years. In fact, Suzanne is a member of COTA’s Board of Directors and has been for nine years. When asked when she first realized COTA had value for her family, she said, “Hands down it was the first COTA golf tournament we attended. We met local celebrity at the time, George Taliaferro, which I will never forget. It was the first time we heard COTA President Rick Lofgren speak. It was not until this COTA event that I was able to grasp how big COTA’s reach was. It was a powerful realization. I remember thinking … COTA is helping so many kids like Lauren … all over the country … and families like ours. It is hard for me not to get emotional thinking of that moment on the golf course, listening to other COTA families’ stories, then sharing ours and realizing we were not alone and we were never going to be alone because we were part of the COTA Family.”
The Seiders family’s first interaction with COTA was in 2007 when Lauren was nine months old. Lauren turns 20 a few weeks from now at the end of May. When asked what the long relationship with COTA means to their family, Suzanne said, “COTA’s lifetime of support commitment gives us peace of mind. COTA has let us breathe easier for two decades and will continue to do so for many years to come. As a transplant parent who works in healthcare, I understand insurance age limits and we know Lauren will need to purchase her own insurance in a few years when she turns 26. For this alone, COTA gives me comfort. Both Jim and I would lose a lot more sleep if we did not have COTA on this journey with us.”
She continued, “COTA is a huge blessing … not just with two decades of endless bills but because this organization does exactly what they say they will do. You can count on COTA! None of us knows what the future will bring, but we do know whatever Lauren has to face, she has a safety net. COTA means Lauren is going to have choices as an adult. COTA has been there for us during challenging times; COTA will be there for Lauren to navigate rough waters that lie ahead.”
“COTA is amazing; it is actually a life-saving organization for our family. We will be forever grateful.”
Throughout 2026, the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is celebrating 40 years of its commitment to being “The Trusted Leader Supporting Families … For a Lifetime.” COTA is also celebrating four Decades of Donors — those who make the selfless decision to become organ and tissue donors and financial contributors who have helped raised more than $160 million for transplant-related expenses. COTA was founded by one Indiana family in 1986. Today, thousands of transplant families, like the Seiders, rely on COTA’s guidance and support, which is provided at no cost.
