Consider Being a Living Kidney Donor
Individuals normally have two kidneys, although a person can live a healthy life with only one.
Living kidney donation is when a person chooses to donate one of their kidneys to someone who needs a transplant. It can be a life-changing gift. Compared with kidneys from deceased donors, kidneys from living donors often last longer and lead to improved survival and quality of life for people with kidney failure.
Who can donate?
Living kidney donors are most often family members, such as a parent, child, or sibling, but they can also be a spouse, friend, co-worker, or even someone they have never met. While a genetic connection between the donor and recipient can be helpful, advances in transplant medicine mean that many successful living kidney transplants occur between people who are not biologically related.
How are living donors assessed?
Every potential living donor undergoes a thorough medical and psychosocial assessment to ensure that donation is safe for both the donor and the recipient. The assessment looks at many factors, including:
Overall physical health
Kidney function
Medical history
Mental and emotional well-being
Ability to give informed, voluntary consent
Some medical conditions may prevent someone from donating, while others require additional assessment. The transplant team will carefully review each person’s individual circumstances.
Where do I start?
If you’re thinking about becoming a living donor, the first step is to learn more and speak with the person you hope to help, if appropriate. You can also reach out to the living donation program in your province directly.
The transplant team can explain the process, answer your questions, and begin the assessment process if you decide to move forward. If you’re interested in becoming a non-directed anonymous donor, the living donor program can also guide you through that process.
You can find the nearest living donor program by visiting the Canadian Blood Services website: What is Living Kidney Donation | Canadian Blood Services
Some advantages of living kidney donation
Time to plan
The organ donation and transplant surgeries can be scheduled when both the donor and recipient are in the best possible health. This helps ensure the quality of the donated kidney is optimal. In addition, the amount of time between removing the kidney from the donor and transplanting it into the recipient is shorter than for a deceased donation. This may help the transplanted kidney to function better and/or last longer.
Less waiting
The length of time the recipient waits for an organ to become available is shorter when the organ comes from a living donor. In addition, other recipients on the transplant waiting list who do not have a living donor themselves move up the transplant waiting list once the recipient of the living donor kidney is removed from the list. In this way other people waiting for a kidney transplant also benefit from a living donation.
Avoidance of dialysis
With a living donor kidney, the transplant surgery may take place earlier in the course of the recipient’s kidney disease, perhaps even before the person begins dialysis treatments.
Better organ survival rate
There are three main reasons for this:
The kidney often lasts longer. A transplanted kidney from a living donor often lasts longer. This is partly because time can be taken to do the necessary tests to get a better tissue match between donor and recipient. A better tissue match means higher compatibility and less risk of organ rejection.
The kidney is usually healthier. The kidney from a living donor is usually healthier than an organ from a deceased donor and may last longer: 15 to 20 years on average, compared to 10 to 15 years for a deceased kidney donation. This is largely because extensive testing is done on the donor to ensure they have excellent kidney function.
The kidney functions right away. A kidney from a living donor usually functions in the recipient from the time it is transplanted. A kidney from a deceased donor may take days or weeks before it starts to work normally, and in the meantime the recipient may need dialysis treatments.
Feeling of satisfaction
It is a positive psychological experience for the donor, knowing that he or she has helped someone in need. This compassionate gesture offers the individual waiting for a transplant an alternative to dialysis or a deceased donor transplant.
One-on-One Peer Support Program
Speak with someone who has previously donated a kidney. Our One-on-One Peer Support Program matches potential living donors with someone who has had the experience of donating a kidney.