How Contact is Initiated
The organ recipient will often want to contact the family of the donor to thank them for authorizing the donation. He or she will need to write a letter to the family, but will have to give it to Lahey's transplant coordinator, who will send it to the organ procurement organization. The OPO will then read the letter to approve it, and will inform the family that they've received mail. Some families prefer not to accept the letter because they don't want to be reminded of their recent loss; others may choose to wait some time before accepting it. If the family chooses to reply, they'll have to do so through the OPO as mediator as well.
Anonymity is very important between donors and recipients. In order to maintain the privacy of both parties, the OPO will have to read all correspondence to remove private information, such as names or addresses.
