Can Someone Donate A Kidney While Still Living?
Most people believe they can only donate organs after they die. This is not true. Bone marrow, lobe of the lung, whole kidneys, and fractions of the liver can be obtained from living donors. An entire kidney can be donated from a living donor because most people have two, and healthy individuals only need one kidney for normal function. 

Does Blood Type Have to be Compatible?
While it’s helpful to know your friends', family members' or loved one’s blood type, it’s not essential. In living donation, incompatible blood type donors can still donate a kidney to help another by donating their kidney indirectly through a remarkable exchange program called Paired Donation.In fact, kidneys donated from living donors can offer a higher quality result, because living organs are not exposed to the trauma that caused the death in deceased donation. Likewise, living donor kidneys are only without blood supply for a brief time before transplantation, unlike deceased organ counterparts. Living donation can also enhance quality assurance, through vigorous pre-surgical donor testing and recipient cross matching.

How Does the Paired Donation Program Work?
Paired donation is a sophisticated kidney exchange program that matches up incompatible donors with more suitable recipients. This brilliant program allows incompatible blood type donors to  donate a kidney to an unknown recipient, so their friend, family member or loved one can obtain a more suitable match in exchange for their donation. 

Remarkably, paired programs have been known to engage more than a dozen donor/recipients at one time. This practice is referred to as a domino chain in transplantation.  After completing a linked series of transplants, the program only pauses temporarily to line up the next “matched set”  for a never-ending string of life renewal.

Donors who are willing to enter into a kidney exchange through paired donation are powerful donors because they expose their recipients to hundreds of potential donors. The more donors the person in need can be exposed to, the greater the opportunity for an excellent match.

Why Should I Find as Many Candidates as Possible?
For a variety of reasons, medical and otherwise, a good number of donors are not able to donate. It may turn out that even though 10 potential donors are lined up, none of them may be permitted to donate. So it’s wise to keep recruiting until your potential donor has passed the final cross-match test and transplant surgery is less than a week away.

How Can I Find a Living Kidney Donor?
Start by talking about your need for a kidney transplant during the natural flow of conversation. By doing this, you'll create empathetic curiosity. This often leads to deeper conversations, which might compel listeners to share their own personal perspective and interest. 

Since most healthy people don’t realize they can donate one of their kidneys (and still live a normal, healthy life), these conversations could ultimately save a life!  At the very least, the dialogue you initiate will increase awareness. And best case, your heartfelt story might resonate deeply with a Good Samaritan who feels a calling for the ultimate gift of human kindness. Either way, you create a win-win by sharing your story often, and with as many people as possible. 

  Go to  The Best Way To Ask for more ideas on what to say.

 Help Transplant Recipients Avoid The Long Wait!
In 2011, as many as 4731 Living Kidney Donors in the US Donated A Kidney.

Do you know someone who can make a difference?