Living donation

Did you know that a friend or loved one can be a living donor? Most often, friends or family can donate a kidney. Living donors can also donate liver segments or a lobe from a lung though these are less frequent.

Stories of hope

Lifesaving gifts

The Barker family has been changed forever by donation and transplantation. As a living donor, Reid gave one of his kidneys to a dear friend and former co-worker in 2018. Lisa received a lifesaving liver transplant in 2014. Read their story

Living organ donation dates back to 1954, when a kidney from one twin was successfully transplanted into his identical brother. In 2022, more than 6,400 people were living organ donors. And three out of five of these donors aren’t biologically related to the recipient.

By offering a kidney, or portion of the liver, living donors offer their loved one or friend an alternative to waiting on the national transplant waiting list for an organ from a deceased donor. To learn more about living organ donation, choose an option below:

illustration of financial obstacles to living donation

Financial assistance available to most living donors

How the National Living Donor Assistance Center enables people to become a living donor. Read more on UNOS

Video

Making a connection

“In the end, two people live on to be happy and live a full life,” says living donor Mark Henderson.

Transplants By Donor Type - All Organs
January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2022
Based on OPTN data as of February 2, 2023

Year	Deceased Donor Transplants	Living Donor Transplants
Total	333,096	65,962
2022	36,421	6,467
2021	34,814	6,542
2020	33,310	5,726
2019	32,322	7,397
2018	29,681	6,849
2022	36,421	6,467
2021	34,814	6,542
2020	33,310	5,726
2019	32,322	7,397
2018	29,681	6,849