How to Find a Person Who Was an Organ Donor
If an organ donor and recipient are not known to each other from the start, both must agree to be put in touch. The United Network for Organ Sharing, UNOS, and its state-affiliate organ procurement organizations maintain contact with both parties and have procedures in place to make the connections. Living donors are most often known to their recipients, but those who choose to donate anonymously most likely to want their anonymity preserved.Things You'll Need
- Date and transplant center where transplant was received
Instructions
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Contact the transplant center where you or your loved one received an organ. You are probably still under care of a transplant surgeon, who will know the procedures used for making contact by your center and the organ procurement organization the center worked with. Find out whether you should send an offer of contact to the hospital or directly to the procurement agency.
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Offer only general information at first: UNOS's Transplant Living website suggests starting with a card or note that includes only your first name, but enclosing it with a second paper that includes your full name and the date you received your transplant, to help identify your records. The transplant center or OPO will forward your offer to the donor family, but it may take weeks for your card to reach them and for them to decide whether and how to respond.
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Respond to whatever reply you get from the donor family, but don't push. If they send a general response, even if they thank you for being in touch, let it lie there. Their organ procurement organization will have your information on file in case the donor family becomes more interested in contact at a later time. If they send back further details about your donor, your OPO or transplant center will ask you to verify your interest in further details, before it releases the donor's letter to you. It may take quite a few rounds of limited contact, before both parties are ready for more direct content.
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