How to Donate a Kidney to a Sibling

According to the National Kidney Foundation, 26 million adults suffer from chronic kidney disease and are at risk for kidney failure. The organization also notes that more than 4,000 kidney failure patients died in 2008 because of a lack of available donors. Sometimes that hard-to-come-by gift of life can be delivered by a family member. It is common for a patient's brother or sister to go through the process of being a living donor.

Instructions

• 1

  Choose a hospital or transplant center.

  Locate a transplant center or hospital. Your sibling can ask her doctor for a referral to a center. You can also search for one through the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. This organization was established by the United States Congress under the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.

• 2

  Determine whether your sibling is a good candidate for a kidney transplant.

  Arrange for the hospital or transplant center to evaluate your sibling. She must be deemed a good candidate for a transplant, and show medical proof that she would benefit from one. This must happen before any living donors are considered.

• 3

  Contact the facility's kidney transplant coordinator.

  Contact the hospital or transplant center. Once your sibling is approved for a transplant, you may begin discussing kidney donation with the hospital or transplant center. You will be put in contact with the kidney transplant coordinator who will answer any questions you have and help you begin the process. Donors who live far away from the hospital may be referred to one in their hometown for initial testing.

• 4

  Make an appointment for initial testing. Potential donors undergo a series of tests, including blood work, X-rays and urine tests. Doctors will look for matching blood types and antigens between the recipient and the donor. The results of these tests determine if you are a good match for your sibling and if you are healthy enough to go through with surgery.

• 5

  Arrange for surgery. You and your sibling will be admitted on the same day. You will receive general anesthesia and the surgical team will make small incisions in your abdomen to remove a kidney. Risks of donation are similar to those involved with any major surgery, and include bleeding and infection. Death resulting from kidney donation is extremely rare.

• 6

  Rest and recuperate. Kidney donors typically stay in the hospital for one to two days. You will be encouraged to get up and out of bed not long after surgery. Walking will help expel gas typically experienced by donors. Kidney donors usually can resume working after two to three weeks, depending on how strenuous their jobs are.