The Organ Donor: A Guide
Here's how to donate your organs after death.
Donated organs and tissues are in great demand as medical technology has made successful organ and tissue transplants safer, easier, and less expensive. Currently, common organ and tissue transplants are:
- kidney
- liver
- heart
- lung
- cornea
- bone and bone marrow
- tendon, ligament, connective tissue
- skin, and
- pancreas.
Tissues and corneas can be taken from almost anyone -- and are often used for research and study rather than transplants. However, there are often problems with donating major organs such as hearts, livers, or kidneys. For example, while there are tens of thousands of people now on waiting lists to receive kidneys alone, only about 1% of all people who die are suitable kidney donors.
To authorize organ donation, it’s a good idea to obtain a donor card and carry it with you at all times. In many states, you can use your driver’s license for this purpose; the motor vehicles department will give you a card to carry and perhaps a sticker to place on the front of your license.
In addition, a health care document (such as an advance directive or living will) is a good place to state your wishes regarding organ donation. An increasing number of states are providing a place on their official health care directive forms for such instructions, allowing you to specify not only the organs, tissues, or body parts that you want to donate but also the purposes for which your donation may be used -- for example, transplant, therapy, research, or education. (For more information about making health care documents, see Living Wills and Powers of Attorney for Health Care: How They Work.)
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