Living Organ Donation
Living donation offers an alternative for individuals awaiting transplantation and increases the existing organ supply. In most instances, living donors are healthy individuals who volunteer to provide a whole organ (most commonly a kidney) or a segment of an organ to help a transplant candidate. In rare instances, known as "domino" transplants, living donors can also be individuals receiving a transplant themselves but whose native organ functions well enough that it can be transplanted into someone else.
A transplant center makes the medical decision whether to accept a person as a potential living donor. Under the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Services and Resources Administration, UNOS collects data on all living donors and living donor transplant recipients. UNOS also provides resource information to support the decision-making process of people interested in becoming living donors.
Related Information
- Read details about living donation, including history, types, outcomes and more >
- Access additional resources, including evaluation guidelines, informed consent and more >
- Create a data report to compare living and deceased donor data >
- Find your region's OPO or a local transplant program in the Member Directory >