Living Organ Donation by Senior Citizens

@mapletraveler it sounds like you are considering being a living donor. Bless you! My experience with transplant is that of a recipient. I am post transplant pancreas and I am inactively listed for kidney transplant. I’ve been looking for a living donor. I would be honored to receive your 70ish kidney!
But in the world of transplantation there are LOTS of factors to be considered when determining what a good match is. Age is one of them. Each transplant center has criteria for what is acceptable or not. During my search for a living kidney donor I had a relative (my mother’s cousin) in her 80’s who was willing to donate but she was rejected by the transplant center I was using due to age. This doesn’t mean there are never senior donors. I have seen pairs of couples and siblings who are seniors that end up with a successful transplant. That is another factor to be considered : relationship. Do you have a particular recipient in mind? A match is more likely to happen if there is biological relationship between donor and recipient. Then again with the shortage of willing donors, friends and complete strangers can be paired for successful transplant.
If you are looking for senior donor stories you could post your inquiry to the Transplant Group of Mayo Clinic Connect. There may be senior members there willing to share their donation experiences.
Another idea is to contact a transplant center and express your interest in being a donor. You have nothing to lose (if you are rejected) but a potential recipient stands to gain everything from your generosity. Mayo Clinic Transplant Center contact info is:
mayoclinic.org/livingdonor
LivingDonorOrganTP@mayo.edu
Ph. 866-227-1569 (toll-free)

I've often wondered about transplants for older people. I'm 67 and nearing that possibility. I may have a relative but I've not been sent to be evaluated. My eGFR is 21 but has steadily been falling by 3-4 points. I've stayed stable at 21 for about 6 months. I want to go to Northwestern in Chicago. They have a relationship with Mayo in Rochester. Much prefer to go to Mayo for the transplant if I have a relative or friend who will donate. I understand the wait is 6-7 years without a donor and don't feel comfortable with dialysis. Thinking let my kidneys decline until absolutely necessary. A lot to think about. Not quite there yet. Thank you.

@mrainne I am 67 also and have been diagnosed with stage 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD).
My eGFR has bounced between 14 - 42 for the past 8 1/2 yeas. It is currently in the low 30’s. If you are interested in pursuing kidney transplant the first thing you need to do is undergo a pre-transplant evaluation. Do you have a local nephrologist who will support this effort?
In 2016 I had pre-transplant evaluations at 2 transplant centers. I was approved and accepted for transplant at both of the centers. I ended up choosing Mayo in Rochester, MN. Then I started looking for a living kidney donor. I’ve been hoping for a preemptive kidney transplant before dialysis becomes necessary.
It is important to get this evaluation done, get approved / accepted and “listed” for kidney transplant ASAP if it is inevitable that you will need it at some point. That way you can start accruing time on the waiting list (which is important, especially if you don’t have a living donor.)
There are two kinds of listings Active & Inactive. An Active listing requires approval / acceptance by the center and an eGFR of 20 or less. Your eGFR of 21 is so close to that and as you say has been steadily falling by 3-4 points.
Inactive listing happens for a number of reasons. The main reason is not having an eGFR quite bad enough for active listing (like me). It can also mean that you still have things to accomplish as required by the transplant center you choose for your pre-transplant evaluation. That could be things like tests, procedures etc. that haven’t been completed yet. When I was doing my pre-transplant evaluation I was impressed at how thorough Mayo was. They utilize a number of collaborative specialties to check you from head to toe inside and out to make sure all your needs can be met by their facility. There was no comparison between the pre-transplant evaluation at Mayo and the other transplant center I went to. I also found out that Mayo has stellar follow up which the other center didn’t. That is why I chose Mayo. My recommendation is that you get on this right away.

Thank you so much for that detailed information! How far do you live from Mayo in Rochester? I live in Illinois and it’s a 6-7 hour drive. Does that matter? I’m getting results today from my most recent blood draw. I’m going to ask my local Neph and Dr Dahl at Mayo to see if I can get pre evaluated. I live 2 hours from Northwestern Hospital in Chicago. It’s my understanding Mayo has a relationship with them. Not sure how that works. I will follow your advice and move forward with getting on the list. Again so appreciate your response!

As the Original Poster, it appears I'm on the wrong list. I am specifically trying to learn about LIVING DONOR experiences of Senior Citizens - specifically, if there are LIVING DONORS over age 70. After much research, it appears that part of the reason I'm having so much trouble is because, in 2023, only 107 of the living donor transplants NATIONWIDE involved donors 70+ (according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. Therefore, I'm converting my question to ask if there are people out there who were EVALUATED as a potential living donor, but were declined. I'd be interested in how that process went, and what you were told about reasons for the decision.