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Reasons to Donate Organs

Perspectives on organ donation range from those that strongly support donation to those that firmly oppose it. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, much of the opposition stems from the misconceptions and myths surrounding the topic (see Resources for a list of myths and facts). Although organ donation is a personal and controversial decision, the fact is, besides his organs there is nothing for a donor to lose and much for everyone to gain.

  1. Severe Shortage

    • There is a great need for organ and tissue donors in the United States. According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, a network that maintains the only national patient waiting list, as of March 2010, there were 106,544 patients waiting for an organ or tissue donation in the United States. As of the same month, there were only 14,631 donors and 28,462 transplants on record.

      OrganDonor.gov, an official U.S. government website on organ and tissue donation and transplantation, states that every day, 77 people receive transplants, while 19 people die waiting for a transplant that never takes place due to a shortage of donors.

      According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), minority donors are especially in demand due to minority ethnic and racial groups' greater susceptibility to certain diseases such as kidney conditions. Matching blood types are necessary for a transplant to take place; since similar blood types are more common within the same minority populations, minority donors are desperately needed to help save the lives of minority patients.

    Large Impact

    • OrganDonor.gov states, "Each organ and tissue donor saves or improves the lives of as many as 50 people." This is because doctors may be able to harvest several organs and tissues from the deceased donor, therefore saving or improving more than one person's life. Additionally, the site suggests that giving the "Gift of Life" and knowing other lives have been saved may help remaining family members cope with the loss of their loved one.

    Furthering Science

    • Donation also help further medical research, indirectly saving or improving lives. According to the HRSA, donating organs and tissues, or your whole body, to a research institute, medical facility or university allows doctors and scientists to understand certain diseases better and how they affect the human body. New understanding may bring forth treatments and cures for medical conditions that were previously not discovered.

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