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What is organ donation and transplantation?
What is the current status of organ donation and transplantation in the
United States?
Who can be an organ donor?
What organs and tissues can I donate?
How do I become a donor candidate?
Does the donor's family have to pay for the cost of organ donation?
If I am a donor, will that affect the quality of my medical care?
Does organ donation disfigure your body?
Who manages the distribution of organs?
What is the process for receiving an organ for transplantation?
How can someone find a transplant hospital?
How are minority women affected by organ transplants?
Organs or tissues from one human being (the donor) are put into another person's body (the recipient).
In recent years, the science of organ transplantation has made great strides. Unfortunately, the process of securing and allocating organs has not matched this progress. There still is a critical shortage of organs. Here are some statistics:
If you are 18 years or older, you can show you want to be an organ donor by signing a donor card or telling your family members. If you are under age 18, you must have a parent's or guardian's consent. There are no age limits on who can donate.
State your intent to be an organ donor on your driver's license.
Fill out a donor card and carry it in your wallet. You can download and print an organ donor card at www.organdonor.gov/newdonorcard.pdf
Tell your family and loved ones that you want to be a donor after you die.
You may also want to tell your family health care provider, lawyer, and your religious leader that you would like to be a donor.
No. The donor's family neither pays for, nor receives payment for, organ and tissue donation. The transplant recipient's health insurance policy (or Medicare or Medicaid) usually covers the cost of transplant.
No. A transplant team does not become involved with the patient until doctors have determined that all possible efforts to save the patient's life have failed.
No. Donation does not change the appearance of the body. Organs are removed surgically in a routine operation. It does not interfere with having a funeral, including open casket services.
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) maintains the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Through the UNOS Organ Center, organ donors are matched to waiting recipients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
If you need an organ transplant, your health care provider will help you get on the national waiting list.
To get on the waiting list, you need to visit a transplant hospital.
A doctor will evaluate you and decide if you meet the criteria to be put on the list. You also can get on the waiting list at more than one transplant hospital. Each hospital has its own criteria for listing patients. If you meet their criteria, they will add you to the list.
You wait. There is no way to know how long you will wait to receive a donor organ.
Your name will be added to a pool of names. When an organ donor becomes available, all the patients in the pool are compared to that donor. Factors such as blood type, tissue type, size of the organ, medical urgency of the patient's illness, time already spent on the waiting list, and distance between donor and recipient are considered. The organ is offered first to the candidate who is the best match. The organs are distributed locally first, and if no match is found, they are offered regionally and then nationally until a recipient is found.
Every transplant hospital in the U.S. is a member of UNOS. You can use the UNOS member directory at www.unos.org/members/search.asp to find a transplant hospital, organ procurement organization, or histocompatibility (tissue) lab.
Minority women suffer more from diseases like diabetes, kidney disease, and high blood pressure—diseases that can lead to organ failure. Finding organ donors can be challenging for minority women. Members of different racial and ethnic groups are usually more genetically similar and more likely to find organ donors within their own ethnic groups. For example, the most likely match for a kidney transplant is between a donor and patient of similar ancestry. Therefore, more donations by minority women increase the likelihood that a good match can be found.
For more information on organ donation and transplantation, call the National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC) at 800-994-WOMAN or contact the following organizations:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary's Organ Donation Initiative
Internet Address: www.organdonor.gov
Office of Minority Health, Office of the Secretary
Phone Number(s): (800) 444-6472
Internet Address: www.omhrc.gov
American Heart Association
Phone Number(s): (800) 793-2665
Internet Address: www.americanheart.org
American Kidney Fund
Phone Number(s): (800) 638-8299
Internet Address: www.akfinc.org
American Liver Foundation
Phone Number(s): (800) 465-4837
Internet Address: www.liverfoundation.org
American Lung Association
Phone Number(s): (800) 586-4872
Internet Address: www.lungusa.org
American Medical Association
Phone Number(s): (312) 464-5000
Internet Address: www.ama-assn.org
American Organ Transplant Association
Phone Number(s): (281) 261-AOTA
Internet Address: www.a-o-t-a.org
Children's Organ Transplant Association
Phone Number(s): (800) 366-COTA
Internet Address: www.cota.org
Coalition on Donation
Phone Number(s): (888) 355-SHARE
Internet Address: http://www.shareyourlife.org
National Marrow Donor Program
Phone Number(s): (800) 627-7692
Internet Address: www.marrow.org
National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program
Phone Number(s): (202) 865-4888
Internet Address: www.nationalmottep.org
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
Phone Number(s): (804) 330-8500
Internet Address: www.unos.org
August 2003
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