Consider Living Kidney Donation

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Dec 10, 2021 | Kristin Eggebraaten | @keggebraaten | Comments (6)

The need for kidney donors is great. In the U.S., close to 100,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant. With this great need for kidneys, there’s also a need for living donors. The decision to become a living donor shouldn’t be taken lightly and could have a huge impact on someone’s life.

Our living donor toolkit will provide you with more information about becoming a living donor.

Did You Know?

• To be a living kidney donor, you don’t have to be related or even know the recipient.
• A usual hospital stay for living kidney donors is typically just 2-3 days.
• The short and long-term survival rates for patients who had a living donor are better than those who had a deceased donor.
• There’s no official  cutoff age for being a living kidney donor.
• Living donation reduces the amount of time a person spends waiting for a deceased organ.
• As a living donor, the recipient’s insurance typically covers your donation-related medical expenses.
• Living kidney donation often allows a recipient to avoid dialysis completely if it was not already started.
• Even if you have controlled hypertension, you might still qualify to be a living donor at Mayo Clinic.

If you are qualify to be a living kidney donor, but you are not a match to your recipient, you can choose to be part of a kidney donor paired exchange. In paired donation, donors and their recipients aren't compatible for a transplant. However, the donor of each pair is compatible with the recipient of the other pair. If both donors and recipients are willing, your doctors may consider a paired donation.

To start the process to be a living kidney (or liver) donor, visit our Be a Living Donor web page.

Are you a living donor? What would you like others to know about the process?

HELPFUL LINKS

• Learn about kidney transplant at Mayo Clinic.
• Explore Mayo’s Transplant Center.
• Request an appointment.