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Who Can Donate Organs?

Organ donation takes healthy organs and tissues from one person to transplant them into another. While it's difficult to think about your own death and what happens to your body after you die, choosing to be an organ donor can be a lifesaving decision. Organ donation is also supported by most religions, including Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam and many sects of Judaism. Whether or not you choose to become an organ donor, it's a deeply personal decision that should be thought about extensively.

  1. The Facts

    • According to the federal website OrganDonor.gov, as of September 2009 there were more than 100,000 candidates for organ donation on the national waiting list. Only certain organs and tissues are eligible for organ donation, and they include the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver, intestines, corneas, skin, heart valves, bone, blood vessels, connective tissue, bone marrow, stem cells, umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood stem sells.

    Requirements

    • All individuals, no matter their age, are eligible for organ donation. If you are under the age of 18, you must obtain a parent or guardian's permission to be an organ donor. What you donate depends on the organ donor's health and physical condition of the specific organ or tissue, which is determined at the time of death. Newborns and senior citizens alike are eligible for organ donation. Even individuals with certain medical conditions can be organ donors.

    Types

    • You can choose to be an organ donor in the event of your death, or you can be a living organ donor. According to OrganDonor.gov, about 6,000 living donations occur each year, and most of those involve organ donation between family members and/or close friends. The kidney is an organ eligible for living donation and is the most common example of living organ donation. Other organs eligible for living organ donation are parts of your lung, pancreas, intestines and liver. Tissues eligible for living donation include blood, marrow, blood stem cells and umbilical cord blood.

      Because of the additional risks posed by being a living organ donor, you will undergo extensive medical and psychological testing to determine if you are eligible for living organ donation.

    Identification

    • Most states have organ donor registries, so the first step is to register with your state if you wish to be an organ donor. You must also indicate your desire to be an organ donor on your driver's license, and you can do this when you first obtain your license or when you renew it. You can indicate on your license whether you'd like to donate any organ, or you can be specific about which organs or tissues you are comfortable with donating. Obtain a free donor card at OrganDonor.gov, sign it and carry it with you at all times. Most importantly, talk to your family about your desire to be an organ donor. In the event of your death, they will be the ones to help carry out your wishes.

    Warning

    • There is a great need for organ donors because the number of people on transplant lists rises faster than the number of available donors. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office on Women's Health, about 3,700 people are added to the national transplant list each month. Every day, 77 people receive organ transplants, but 18 people die waiting for an eligible organ donor. The Office on Women's Health says that organ donors can save or help as many as 50 people.

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