How to become a living organ donor

What it is

A living organ donor gives an organ, or part of an organ, while they are alive, so another person can have a transplant. In the United States, the organ people most often give this way is a kidney. Some living donors give part of a liver. Less often, a person can donate a portion of another organ. Organdonor.gov, the federal site run for this purpose, is the place those facts are spelled out. This page is a plain map of that process. It is not medical advice, and it is not an application.

A living donor is not the same thing as registering as a deceased donor. One decision is surgery while you are healthy enough to be evaluated. The other is a record of your wishes after death. Either one can be a generous choice. They are not interchangeable, and saying yes to one does not sign you up for the other.

How it works

Organdonor.gov says a living donor must be at least 18, though some transplant hospitals require 21, and must be in good physical and mental health, understand the risks and benefits, and make an informed decision. Parents, partners, friends, coworkers, and strangers can all be candidates. The hospital, not a newsroom, decides whether a particular person is healthy enough.

HRSA's living-donation guide says the process starts at a transplant hospital. If you hope to donate to someone you know, that person can connect you with their hospital. Some hospitals will start testing without telling the person who needs the transplant, if you ask for that privacy. If you want to donate to someone you do not know, you call a transplant hospital and ask about their process.

The evaluation is long because it is meant to protect both people. It can include a physical exam, lab tests, questions about medical history, a mental health evaluation, and a look at whether you can take time away from work or caregiving. If you are not a match for one person, the team may talk about other legal options, such as kidney paired donation, where donors and recipients are matched in a chain. That is a hospital program, not something to arrange in private messages.

The same federal guidance describes an independent living donor advocate. That person's job is to protect the donor, not to make the transplant happen. The advocate is who you tell if you are unsure. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network says a potential donor may decide not to donate up until the time of surgery. A real program will let you stop.

Organdonor.gov says living kidney donors typically stay in the hospital two or three days, liver donors about five days, and that returning to usual activity takes about six to twelve weeks after a kidney donation and about eight to twelve weeks after donating part of a liver. Those are their general figures, not a promise about one person's surgery. The transplant team is who explains your own risks, the operation, and which costs are covered. UNOS and the National Kidney Foundation publish guides that sit alongside the federal pages.

How to start

Use the steps on this page in order. Read first. Then call a transplant hospital. Then decide, more than once, whether you want to continue. Do not announce a donation on social media until you understand that the hospital may ask you not to, and that the person who needs the organ does not owe you a yes in return.

Nobody should be praised into surgery. Gratitude is not the same thing as pressure. If you are supporting someone else's decision, the helpful version is a ride, a meal after they are home, or quiet company at an appointment. The unhelpful version is a public countdown they cannot walk back.