how to donate a liver

What are the criteria for donating a liver?

May 31, 2017 · A living liver donation surgery involves removing part of a person’s healthy liver — as much as 60 percent — and using this partial liver to replace the recipient’s diseased liver. In the weeks to come, both the donor and recipient sections will grow to the size of normal livers.

What are the risks of donating a liver?

Who Can Donate a Liver? You Must Want to Do It. You're the only one who can decide to donate part of your liver. It's illegal for anyone to force you to do it. It's also ... You're a Family Member or Friend. You're in the Right Age Group. Your Blood Type Is …

How much money can I get for my liver donation?

In order to be considered as a potential live liver donor, you must: Be willing to donate without any pressure from a family member, friend or someone you know. Be healthy and free from any major physical or mental illness. Be between the ages of 18 and 55 and if …

Can you donate a liver and still live?

In living liver donor surgery, the donor and the recipient are placed in side-by-side operating rooms. A surgeon removes a part of the donor’s liver, typically the right half. This donated segment of the liver is then immediately placed in the recipient in the next operating room.

Does donating a liver shorten your life?

Whether you're giving away part of your liver or getting a new one, life often goes back to normal a few months after surgery. By the time you hit the 3-month mark, your liver will probably reach its normal size and you'll be back to your regular routine.Dec 3, 2019

Can I just donate my liver?

Living donation is possible because the liver is the only organ that can regenerate itself. An adult may be able to donate a portion of their liver to a child or another adult.

What qualifies you to donate a liver?

Donors must have a compatible blood type and liver anatomy that is suitable for donation. Potential liver donors must not have any serious medical conditions, such as liver disease, diabetes, heart disease or cancer. To become a live liver donor, you must: Be a willing adult between age 18 and 60.

What are the risks of donating liver?

Risks Associated with Liver DonationPossible allergic reaction to anesthesia.Pain and discomfort.Nausea.Wound infection.Bleeding that may require transfusion.Blood clots.Pneumonia.Bile leakage, bile duct problems.More items...

Can a female donate a liver to a male?

The liver is recognized as a sex hormone-responsive organ. Gender-specific differences in liver function are known to exist. Recently, a higher failure rate for organs transplanted in adults from female donors to male recipients has been reported.

What disqualifies you from a liver transplant?

acute rejection. the return of liver disease. cancer. medical complications, such as high blood pressure, infection, diabetes, and high cholesterol.

Can O positive donate liver to anyone?

If you have Type O blood, you are a "universal donor" and can donate to anyone (although Type O liver recipients can only get organs from people who are also Type O).Sep 29, 2021

Does insurance cover liver donation?

Liver living transplant – Living liver donation is covered by most private insurers for the evaluation and donation stay. Coverage after the donation may vary with insurance companies.

Can I donate part of my liver to my dad?

Do You Meet the Requirements for Donating a Liver? Any member of the family, parent, sibling, child, spouse or a friend can donate their liver. Generally, liver donors must: Be at least 18 years old.

Can you drink after donating liver?

Lifestyle Changes. In preparation for liver donation, you may need to make some modifications to your lifestyle. These changes include avoiding recreational drugs, tobacco and alcohol. You cannot drink alcohol for a full year after surgery to allow your liver to recover.

Can a family member donate part of their liver?

Sometimes a healthy living person will donate part of their liver. A living donor may be a family member. Or it may be someone who is not related to you but whose blood type is a good match. People who donate part of their liver can have healthy lives with the liver that is left.

What is the success rate of liver transplant?

According to a study , people who have a liver transplant have an 89% percent chance of living after one year. The five-year survival rate is 75 percent . Sometimes the transplanted liver can fail, or the original disease may return.

Getting Started

To be considered for live liver donation, fill out the form below. Please answer all questions truthfully and accurately. All information you share with our transplant team is strictly confidential.

More Information About Live Liver Donation

Comprehensive information about living donation is available through the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

Liver Donor Evaluation Form

In order to be considered as a live liver donor you must submit the electronic form. All information is confidential.

Facts About Living Liver Donation

Your liver is an incredible organ. It actually regrows to its original size within six months of a living liver donation surgery. Like any surgery, the procedure does have some risks. But overall, living liver donation is safe. Our team will always act in your best interests and safety as a donor.

Financial Resources

Are you considering living liver donation but are worried about how much it will cost? Learn more about financial resources by reading the American Society of Transplantation's Live Donor Financial Toolkit.

Hear From Our Patients

It’s been a long 36 years for Lynn Clark, 57, who has felt “rundown and exhausted” for much of his adulthood. The Hyrum man’s troubles began after a car accident in 1980 led him to receive a blood transfusion.

Hear From Our Specialists

Undergoing lung transplant surgery is a highly complex and life-changing experience — affecting a patient's quality of life. That’s what drives Dr. Matthew Morrell, a pulmonologist and Medical Director of the Lung Tr...

Living Liver Donation Overview

Jessica (left) is a living liver donor, mom, and ATF 1+1=LIFE Mentor – pictured with David Crosby and her father (liver recipient.)

Surgery

In living liver donor surgery, the donor and the recipient are placed in side-by-side operating rooms. A surgeon removes a part of the donor’s liver, typically the right half. This donated segment of the liver is then immediately placed in the recipient in the next operating room.

Additional Resources

Click here to learn more about becoming a peer Mentor like Janet or to receive one-on-one support from a peer Mentor.

Evaluation for a Living Donor

The evaluation helps determine if you are an appropriate match with your recipient and if you are medically fit to donate. In the first stage of evaluation, you’ll undergo tissue typing and lab screening and complete a liver donor questionnaire .

Surgery and Recovery for a Living Donor

After a thorough evaluation, if you are approved for donation, surgery will be scheduled. Unless an urgent transplant is needed, surgery is usually scheduled four to six weeks in advance. Typically, a liver donor spends approximately seven days in the hospital, and will have an additional six to eight weeks of recovery time.

Risks Associated with Liver Donation

Even though live liver donation is considered a very safe operation, it involves major surgery and is associated with complications, which may include:

What are the benefits of live donor liver transplant?

In the United States, more than 17,500 patients are on the waiting list to receive a liver transplant. Although more than 6,000 liver transplants are performed every year, at least 1,700 patients die each year while on the waiting list.

Can I be a living donor?

If a liver transplant candidate is eligible to receive from a living donor, then a family member, relative or close friend can be considered for donation. There are several requirements to becoming a living donor. If you meet the criteria below and are interested in living donor liver transplant, call 410-614-2989.

Becoming a Living Liver Donor

If you are interested in becoming a living liver donor, please complete a candidate profile.

Pro: Livers grow back

If you're going to be a donor, you may worry that removing part of your liver will hurt your health. But you can lose up to 75% of it, and it will grow back to its original size quickly -- and work just fine when it does.

Con: You could have complications

"The donor can [get] medical complications such as bleeding, bile leaks, infections, or blood clots," Te says.

Pro: Transplants from living donors go more smoothly

Since livers from living donors are outside the body for a shorter amount of time than ones that come from someone who has died, they tend to "take" better, Te says.

Con: Recipients need meds for life

Whether your liver comes from a living donor or not, it will be a big boost to your health. But your new liver is also a stranger to your body. You'll have to take drugs that keep your immune system -- your body's defense against germs -- from treating the new liver as an invader that needs to be attacked.

Pro: You have more control over the process

Most living-donor transplants happen between family members or close friends. If you know someone who is willing and able to give you part of their liver, you may be able to get a transplant more quickly than you would if you have to wait until a liver becomes available from a donor who has died.

Con: You'll be sidelined after surgery

You may spend some time in an intensive care unit after you get your new liver, and up to 10 days in the hospital overall.

Pro: Donors are covered by insurance

Normally, the health insurance of the person who is getting a new liver covers the expense of the donor, including pre-transplant evaluations, surgery, in-hospital recovery, and follow-up care.

A Connection Between Donor and Recipient

A living donor doesn't have to be a close family member. If you want to be a donor, you might be a distant relative, friend, neighbor, or co-worker of the person who needs a new liver.

The Right Blood Type

Some centers require that your blood type be a match with the recipient. For example, these types make good matches:

Matching Body Size

Unless you plan to donate your liver to a child, your body size should be roughly about the same as the adult who will get part of your liver.

Good Physical Shape

You must be healthy to donate your liver. It's crucial that you be free of cancer, organ diseases like liver or heart disease, hepatitis, HIV, and any active or long-term infections.

Stable Mental Health

Being a living donor is a big commitment. You'll need to have no history of major mental health problems.

Sober Lifestyle

You can't be a donor if you have a substance use disorder. You also can't donate if you have an alcohol addiction or drink heavily.

Healthy Weight

Transplant centers have weight requirements. Depending on the center, your body mass index (BMI) will need to be less than 33 to 35.