How to Donate a Kidney to a Stranger
With over 70,000 people in the United States on a kidney transplant waiting list, kidney donations are in high demand. Donating your kidney to someone you may not even know is a very selfless and heroic act. Many healthy people have two well-functioning kidneys and can live a normal and healthy life with just one functioning kidney.
- Do extensive research on living kidney donations. There are several sites available for reference, such as the National Kidney Foundation site and the Matching Donors site.
- Receive the OK from your doctor. In order to donate a kidney, you will need to go through a physical and psychological test to make sure you're mentally stable as well as physically healthy enough for the donation. You also will need to make sure your kidneys are working properly as well as be younger than 70 years old.
- Sign up on a donor site. If you want to be a potential donor, you will need to sign up as one. You can sign up as a donor on many kidney donation sites. These sites will ask you to fill out a couple questions as well as fill out a profile. Make sure you know your blood type before you sign up as a donor, so they can match you with a person who has a matching blood type.
- Prepare yourself when you get matched. Once they find a proper match for you, you will receive a call and will be notified when you can come in for your surgery. The recovery period can last anywhere from one to 12 weeks. Please be aware, that in the United States it is illegal to receive money for your kidney donation.