Department of Transplantation Dept. of Transplantation

1. Can I Be A Donor?

Before you consider becoming a living donor, make sure you fulfill the criteria required. Don’t worry if you’re uncertain about a few items, we conduct rigorous medical and psycho-social evaluations to make sure donating is in the best interest for both the donor and the recipient.

Timeline
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Who can Donate?

Ideal Donor

Ideal Donor

The ideal donor would fulfill the following requirements:

  • A willing adult between 18-60 years of age
  • Willing to commit to the evaluation process, surgery, and burden of recovery.
  • A family member, friend, or work colleague
  • In good health and psychological condition
  • Of compatible blood type
  • Have normal liver and kidney function
  • Be similar in body size as the recipient
  • Willing to abstain from alcohol until fully recovered
Possible Donor

Possible Donor

There are some circumstances that may require the donor to go through additional screenings to determine if they’re good contenders for donation or not.

  • Suffer from hypertension – will need to be further evaluated.
  • History of kidney stones – will need to be further evaluated.
  • Altruistic donors (strangers) – will need to go through additional psychosocial evaluations to help the donor team understand your motivation for donation.
  • Incompatible crossmatch – will need to be desensitized, and then re-evaluated.
  • Incompatible blood type – may not donate to the intended person, but may perform a kidney “swap” with another donor-recipient pair through Kidney Paired Donation Program (click to learn about paired donation).
Unacceptable Donor

Unacceptable Donor

Certain circumstances would render the donor ineligible to donate:

  • Being under 18 years of age
  • Suffer from heart disease
  • Suffer from diabetes
  • Suffer from cancer
  • Suffer from chronic kidney issues

Compatible Blood Types

If the square with the blood type of the donor and recipient has a check, they are compatible.

If the square with the corresponding blood types doesn't have a check, they are not compatible, however, we offer a Kidney Paired Donation Program that can help you “swap” organs with other people to find the perfect match.

Blood Type Chart