About 40,000 cornea transplants are performed annually, with more than 5,000 people waiting for donated corneas. The largest number of children who need organ transplants are waiting for liver donations. There are currently more than 15,000 African Americans waiting for kidney or kidney-pancreas transplants nationwide. Survival rates for organ recipients continue to rise. There is no cost to be an organ and tissue donor.
Donation is a gift.
Most of the expense of a transplant is generated by the transplant procedures, including hospital costs, surgeons' and doctors' fees, medication and aftercare.