Living donors are required to be at least 18. Although there is no age limit, we screen each individual carefully and require additional testing for those over the age of 60. Your safety is our main focus.
Donors can be parents, children, siblings, other family and friends, co-workers, etc. Donors need to be in good health and free of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, sickle cell disease, HIV or hepatitis. Every donor will be screened individually for suitability for donation.
While living donor transplants from the patients' relatives are considered the most beneficial, transplanted kidneys from living unrelated donors also have excellent success rates. Both @types of living donor transplants are more likely to be successful than a deceased donor transplant.
In fact, recent studies have shown that a kidney from an unrelated living donor lasts as long as or longer than the best matched kidney from a deceased donor. In addition, the rejection rate for a living donor is significantly lower.