It must be clear that the patient has a good likelihood of benefiting from the procedure. While considerations of recipients' social worth should not be factored in to the transplantation decision, psychological factors are very important. Some hospitals do not charge for transplants, so financial means may not be a deciding factor, but fed eral and state medical programs refuse to pay for transplants regarded as experimental, a category including many infant organ transplants. Final selection for a transplant depends on a compatible organ becoming available at the time a patient reaches the top of the waiting list. For a transplant to have a chance of success, transplant tissues must be removed from a donor while still being oxygenated by the donor's circulatory system.
Most organs come from accident victims.
The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act is the law that governs organ donation. Whereas this brief statement, which must be witnessed, constitutes consent, many hospitals also require the written consent of the donor's next of kin. If a good match is found between an organ and a patient on a waiting list, and if time and distance allow, the donated organ is rushed to the medical center where the operation is to take place. It is expected that fetal tissue will become increasingly important in transplantation. Although spontaneous abortions may provide fetal material, it is most likely to originate from fetuses electively aborted.