How you prepare

Making an informed decision

Making the decision to donate a kidney is a personal one that deserves careful thought and consideration of both the serious risks and benefits. Talk through your decision with your friends, family and other trusted advisers.

You should not feel pressured to donate, and you may change your mind at any point.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) require that living-donor transplant centers provide an independent living-donor advocate to protect the informed consent process. This advocate is often a social worker or counselor who can help you discuss your feelings, answer any questions you have and assist in protecting your best interests throughout the donation process.

General criteria for kidney donation include:

• Age 18 years or older
• General good health
• Two well-functioning kidneys
• A willingness to donate
• No history of high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes, certain cancers or major risk factors for heart disease
• Completion of a thorough physical and psychological evaluation at the transplant center

If you meet the requirements to be a living donor, the transplant center is required to inform you of all aspects and potential results of organ donation and receive your informed consent to the procedure.

Choosing a transplant center

Your physician or your living-donor kidney recipient's physician may recommend a transplant center for your donor nephrectomy.

You're also free to select a transplant center on your own or choose a center from your insurance company's list of preferred providers.

When considering a transplant center, you may want to:

• Learn about the number and type of transplants the center performs each year
• Ask about the transplant center's organ donor and recipient survival rates
• Compare transplant center statistics through the database maintained by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients
• Assess the center's commitment to keeping up with the latest transplant technology and techniques, which indicates that the program is growing
• Consider additional services provided by the transplant center, such as support groups, travel arrangements and referrals to other resources
• Find out if the transplant center participates in paired-organ donation or donation chain exchange programs