Kidney donor list

My daughter, Jenna, has lived with a transplanted kidney for nearly three years. We found her a living donor through social media. My sister, Bonnie, has been on dialysis for five years, and I am helping her search for a kidney donor. She has recently become a grandmother, and wants to be more involved with her family, and free of dialysis. In this article I will share what I have learned throughout many years of experience what is helpful to those of you who need a kidney transplant. Bonnie and Wayne with their grandchild. Photo courtesy of Karol Franks. First, before any potential living donor can be considered for you, you must be evaluated by a transplant center to ensure you’re a good candidate for a transplant. Your healthcare professional can refer you to a transplant center for tests, or you can contact a local transplant center directly. Getting waitlisted and approved for a transplant can happen before you start dialysis. This is known as a preemptive transplant. If your glomerular filtration rate, or GFR, is below 20, you can get worked up and begin the donor search. A preemptive transplant is a beneficial possibility, but it involves working closely with your transplant team, and a living donor, to make it happen. On rare occasions, a person will receive a preemptive transplant from a deceased donor. The wait time for a deceased donor in the United States is three- to 15 years, depending on your location, blood type and presence of antibodies. In 2019, out of e...

The kidney transplant waitlist is a list of people waiting for a kidney from someone who has died. You have to be on the waitlist or approved by a transplant center if you want a transplant, even if you find a living donor. UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) finds matches between people on the waitlist and donated kidneys. Currently there are around 93,000 people on the kidney transplant waitlist. • Contact the transplant center and ask to start the process. You may need your doctor to refer you, or you may be able to call the transplant center yourself. It depends where you live. The transplant center will let you know if you need your doctor to refer you. • Fill out the medical forms they send in the mail • Schedule an appointment with the transplant team to start a medical, psychological, and financial interview – this means the center will want to know about your health, your mental or emotional health, and how much money you make and have saved. Most people in the United States wait about 4 years to get a kidney from the waitlist. Some people wait longer. The average wait time will vary depending on which transplant center you register with – it could be anywhere from 4 months to more than 6 years. Some people never get a matching kidney from the list. 1 out of 20 (5%) kidney patients die each year while they wait for a kidney. Your place on the waitlist and how long you will have to wait for a kidney depends on a lot of different factors, such as: • How long you...

Many people who need transplants of organs and tissues cannot get them because of a shortage of donations. Of the 123,000 Americans currently on the waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant, more than 101,000 need a kidney, but only 17,000 people receive one each year. Every day 12 people die waiting for a kidney. Organ and tissue donation helps others by giving them a second chance at life. Deceased Donation Identifying yourself as an organ and/or tissue donor is simple. Simply visit the Signing up online through your state registry or on your driver's license is a good first step in designating your wishes about donation, but letting your family or other loved one's know about your decision is vitally important. Family members are often asked to give consent for a loved one's donation, so it's important that they know your wishes. Living Donation You can also consider being a living kidney donor. Living donation takes place when a living person donates an organ or part of an organ to someone in need of a transplant. The donor is most often a close family member, such as a parent, child, brother or sister. A donor can also be a more distant family member, spouse, friend or co-worker. Non-directed donors - those who donate anonymously and do not know their recipients - are also becoming more common. Religion and Organ Donation Virtually all religious denominations approve of organ and tissue donation as representing the highest humanitarian ideals and the ultimate ch...

Better Matches, Better Outcomes, Longer-Lasting Transplants The NKR is finding better matches and achieving better transplant outcomes with the largest pool of living donors across 100 transplant centers in the United States. Leading the World in Comprehensive Donor Support & Protections Donors who donate as part of a National Kidney Registry swap, including the Voucher Program, are protected and supported by Donor Shield.

× Fact Checked HealthDay operates under the strictest editorial standards. Our syndicated news content is completely independent of any financial interests, is based solely on industry-respected sources and the latest scientific research, and is carefully fact-checked by a • All articles are edited and checked for factual accuracy by our • Unless otherwise noted, all articles focusing on new research are based on studies published in • Each article includes a link or reference to the original source. • Any known potential conflicts of interest associated with a study or source are made clear to the reader. Please see our HealthDay Editorial Commitment HeathDay is committed to maintaining the highest possible levels of impartial editorial standards in the content that we present on our website. All of our articles are chosen independent of any financial interests. Editors and writers make all efforts to clarify any financial ties behind the studies on which we report. Key Takeaways In a practice known as "list diving," many transplant centers routinely pass over a top candidate for someone further down the waiting list Roughly 68% of kidneys offered to these centers were not placed with the top-ranked candidates for organ transplant Researchers said this practice flies in the face of established donation guidelines, and is done without transparency or oversight The top candidate is ranked that way based on an objective algorithm using age, waiting time and other factors, wh...

What is living donation? Living donation is a type of kidney transplant where a living person donates one of their two healthy kidneys to a person living with kidney disease. A living donor is the person who donates their healthy kidney. There are two types of living donation: • Directed donation is when the living donor chooses the specific person with kidney disease who they want to donate their kidney to, such as a family member or friend. • Non-directed donation is when the living donor does not have a specific person they will donate their kidney to. Instead, they donate their kidney to a stranger, such as through a paired kidney exchange program. Who can donate a kidney? To be a living kidney donor, you must: • Be age 18 or older • Have two healthy, working kidneys • Be healthy enough to donate How do I know if I am healthy enough to donate a kidney? You will need to have a full health evaluation at the transplant center. You will meet with many members of the donor evaluation team. This team is specially assigned to work with you as a possible living donor and includes members similar to those on the transplant team. The evaluation will help your donor evaluation team decide if you are ready and healthy enough to be a living kidney donor. As part of the evaluation, you will have many tests and exams, such as: • Blood tests, such as to learn your blood and tissue types • Urine tests • Heart and lung tests • Blood pressure check • A spiral CT (computed tomography) sca...

Donor Search If you need a kidney but do not have a donor willing to donate on your behalf, the National Kidney Registry’s Champion Microsite program can help you find a donor. Microsite The NKR’s microsite program provides a free, personalized website designed to help you find a living kidney donor. There are two types of sites—starter and custom—depending on a patient’s level of comfort. Using the custom microsite, you can post pictures and tell the story of why you need a kidney. You can share your microsite through email, social media and in person with the 250 free business cards you will receive after the site is activated. To get in touch with a transplant center that offers the Champion Microsite program, go to Donor Search Expert Coach The National Kidney Registry has partnered with a network of individuals who have personal experience with donor search campaigns. Our patient coaches are experts at running successful donor search campaigns and can assist patients with all aspects of the donor search process, including microsite creation, social media utilization and other strategies for finding a living donor. All microsite patients are connected with a coach upon microsite activation. Champion Training A one-day Zoom training seminar will be conducted for all microsite patients every month to instruct patients how to find a living donor and how to most effectively utilize the microsite platform. These monthly training sessions are hosted by expert donor search co...