Where to find a kidney donor?

If you're trying to find a kidney donor, the best way to do that is to have interested family and friends take a potential compatibility test. You will need to work at your transplant center to discuss other options that may be available. If you cannot find a donor this way and you are a suitable candidate for a transplant, the transplant center will place you on the transplant waiting list. To obtain a kidney from a living or deceased donor, you will first need to undergo an evaluation at a transplant center.

After you pass the assessment, the transplant center will add you to the transplant waiting list. You will be on the waiting list until a compatible kidney from a deceased donor is available. Most people in the United States wait about five years to receive a kidney from a deceased donor, but how long you will wait depends on many factors. For example, some regions have longer wait times than others.

There is another option besides a kidney transplant from a deceased donor and that is to receive a kidney from a living donor. Donors who donate as part of a National Kidney Registry redemption, including the Voucher Program, are protected and supported by Donor Shield. MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute, in partnership with the National Kidney Registry, offers recipients a free personalized website that allows them to share their story and why they need a kidney. It is estimated that more than 30 million people in the U.S.

They suffer from chronic kidney disease and nearly 50% of patients with severely reduced kidney function are not aware of it. The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the largest, most comprehensive and oldest organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease. Options for patients with less than 20% renal function are kidney transplantation or dialysis. If surgery is approved for both donor and recipient, and all kidney transplant compatibility criteria are met, the donor will undergo 2- to 3-hour surgery to remove 1 healthy kidney.

If you or your child needs a kidney transplant and find a willing living kidney donor, but medical tests show that person is not a match based on blood type or other factors associated with a high risk of organ rejection, they may still be able to receive a transplant. AKF works on behalf of the 37 million Americans living with kidney disease, and the millions most at risk, to support people wherever they are in their fight against kidney disease, from prevention to life after transplant. A living kidney donor will undergo full medical testing to ensure that they are compatible with the recipient of the kidney and that they are healthy enough for surgery. Living kidney donation and the power of computers help find donors and recipients willing to do so and who can live near or even across the country.