How do I know if I can donate?
To qualify as a living donor, you should be in good physical / mental health and free from uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS and organ disease. Age range is 18-70, and gender and race are not factors in matching.
Donor candidates take a blood test to determine compatibility. In Scott’s case, he is only compatible with Type O donors. HOWEVER, if you are not Type O, you can still be an indirect donor (this is the route I am pursuing).
Ohio State can help match an incompatible donor/recipient pair & another incompatible pair with “Kidney Paired Donation”.
If Scott is a match with a donor from another pair & I am a match for another recipient, OSU can arrange simultaneous transplants. This way 2 recipients receive organs from 2 donors, although the original pairs were mismatched.
Kidney Paired Donation can involve multiple donors & recipients. In 2011, OSU was national recognized for a 6-way paired kidney transplant, coordinating transplantation of six kidneys. Since, they have done 2 more 6-way, and several 4 & 5-way chains. With 94,000 Americans waiting for kidneys, paired donations can impact the kidney wait list.
If you go this route, similar to direct donation, you submit a health assessment/history and go through some medical testing. You are then entered into the paired donation network as a willing donor & we wait for you & Scott to be matched with a recipient & a donor.
Because of paired donation, it benefits Scott to have multiple donors in the network if we can’t find a direct donor. It helps the odds of finding a match sooner.
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