What is living organ donation?
Living organ donation is when a person donates a kidney or part of a liver. More than half of all kidney transplants are from living donors. The Glenda Dawson Donate Life – Texas Registry is not for people who want to be living donors. To find out more about how to become a living donor, contact the organ procurement organization in your area. Go to the resource page for a list.
An individual can potentially donate one of their kidneys, or portion of liver, to someone they know, such as a family member, spouse, friend, or co-worker. In the case of kidney donation, someone could even donate to someone they don’t know through BC’s Living Anonymous Donor program. Living donors can lead healthy lives. Click here for more information on living organ donation.
Living organ donation involves an organ or part of an organ being taken from a healthy living person (known as a living donor) and transplanted into a person with organ failure. Typically a living donor is related to the person awaiting a transplant e.g. sibling or parent. This is mainly because someone who is closely related will have a better chance of being a good tissue match. If the donor and recipient are genetically related there is less risk of organ rejection. Some countries allow un-related living organ donation, whereby friends, colleagues and even strangers are allowed to donate an organ for transplant. Living donors can only donate those organs or tissues, which they can live a healthy lifestyle without.
