Living Organ Donation

Most organ and tissue donations occur after the donor has died. But some organs and tissues can be donated while the donor is alive. Nearly 6,000 living donations take place each year. That’s about 4 out of every 10 donations.

Most living donations happen among family members or between close friends. Some people become altruistic living donors by choosing to donate to someone they don’t know.

Living donors can potentially donate one of two kidneys, one of two lobes of their liver, a lung or part of a lung, part of the pancreas, or part of the intestines. Living tissue that can be donated includes skin, after certain surgeries such as an abdominoplasty, bone after knee and hip replacements, healthy cells from bone marrow and umbilical cord, amnion, donated after childbirth, blood, including white and red blood cells, platelets, and the serum that carries blood cells throughout the circulatory system.

A healthy body can easily replace some tissues such as blood or bone marrow. Both blood and bone marrow can even be donated more than once since they are regenerated and replaced by the body after donation.

Sign-up to be an organ donor using either of the following addresses.

https://www.core.org/register/ https://www.donatelife.net/register/