Related Donor Transplantation

Donation from a Family Member

Many living donor transplants are between related family members. The first step in identifying the right family donor is to determine compatibility. Tissue and blood testing will determine if a potential donor and recipient are a match. Because these traits are inherited from both parents, it might more likely to find a match from a patient's own family than from an unrelated person. A closer genetic match will lessen the likelihood of rejection. A healthy parent, child, sibling, or other genetic relative of the patient may volunteer to donate one of their functioning kidneys to the recipient. The donor will undergo tests to assure he or she can live a healthy life with the remaining kidney. A donor's medical costs will be the responsibility the recipient, and are often covered by a recipients medical insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.

Patient Stories

  • “The doctors, surgeons, the entire team, they made me feel like family. The care was tremendous, not just for me but for my loved ones too. I never felt alone.”

    Samad
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  • “It’s the most worthwhile thing I’ve ever done. When someone you love is sick, you always ask, ‘What can I do?’ Most times, there’s nothing—but this time I could actually do something and that effort saved my dad’s life.”

    Carrone
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  • “Being able to give Carlos the gift of life is a blessing, and I hope our story inspires others to do the same.”

    Daisy
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Patient Stories

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