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Types of Organ Donors

Organ donation is the process where living organs are taken from one person and transplanted into a recipient who needs the organ to live. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 110,586 people are in need of a vital organ transplant. Organ transplantation is an effective treatment for organ failure. In fact, one individual can actually save up to eight other lives through harvesting and transplantation of healthy organs. There are seven different types of organ donors that can help restore life to a patient in need.

  1. Living Donor/Deceased Exchange

    • This type of donor is typically involved in kidney donations. If a kidney donor is not a compatible match with the intended recipient, then the donor can donate a kidney to a random person already on the waiting list. In exchange for this donation, the donor's intended recipient will be advanced up the waiting list for a kidney from a deceased individual in the future, states Transplant Living. This type of donation will be considered after all other possible donors have been checked for a match and after pediatric candidates have been given priority.

    Paired Donors

    • According to Transplant Living, the paired donation process occurs when two kidney recipients have incompatible living donors and decide to trade donors so each will receive a matched kidney. Donor 1 will give a kidney to recipient 2, and donor 2 will give a kidney to recipient 1. The paired donations can also involve more than two pairs of donors and recipients, as long as each recipient receives a kidney that is compatible.

    Blood Type Incompatible Donors

    • This type of living donor has a blood type that is incompatible with the intended recipient. To allow the recipient to accept the kidney, plasmapheresis treatments will be given before and after the transplantation surgery, says Transplant Living. This will remove the harmful antibodies from the blood that could cause the recipient to reject the incompatible kidney.

    Related Donors

    • Related donors are living organ donors who are biologically related to the recipient. This type of donor has a greater chance of successfully donating organs because of the familial blood ties. This reduces the chance that the recipient's body will reject the donated organ. Healthy organs can be transplanted from a recipient's parents, full siblings, half siblings, adult children, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

    Non-related Donors

    • Non-related organ donors are similar to living donors, only they have no biological connection to the recipient. These donors are emotionally involved with the recipient in some way and choose to donate to that particular person. Examples would include close friends, neighbors, spouses, step-siblings or co-workers. These donors must be tested as a match for the recipient in order for the organs to be successfully transplanted, otherwise the recipient's body will reject the organ.

    Non-directed Donors

    • Non-directed organ donors are living donors who have no biological relationship with the recipient. This type of donor does not even know the recipient and donates to strangers who are in need of an organ transplant. These donors typically decide to remain anonymous and are referred to as altruistic stranger or stranger-to-stranger living donors. Non-directed donors, as with all other types of living donors, can donate the pancreas, kidney, lung, or a portion of the liver according to MedlinePlus.

    Deceased Donors

    • A deceased donor is one that has deceased but has registered to be an organ donor prior to his death. Once a person has no heart or brain activity and declared legally dead by a medical doctor, the vital organs are tested for viability to be transplanted into recipients. Anyone over the age of 18 can register to become an organ donor, states MedlinePlus. Deceased donors can donate the heart, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, liver, skin, corneas or intestinal organs. To become an organ donor, visit the United States Department of Health and Human Services website to register with your home state.

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