Could You Be the One?
What Is Living Kidney Donation?
A living donation happens when a healthy person volunteers one of their kidneys to someone in need. The human body functions fully with just one kidney, which means a living donor can lead a completely normal, healthy life after surgery.
Kidneys from living donors have longer survival rates, function better, and have fewer complications than kidneys from deceased donors — and the wait time is significantly shorter.
Who Can Donate?
A living donor can be a blood-related family member or a non-blood-related individual — a spouse, friend, coworker, member of a faith community, or even a compassionate stranger. This type of donation is called altruistic, non-directed donation, and it is increasingly common.
What If We Are Not a Match?
Blood type or immune system differences prevent about one-third of willing donors from being a direct match. If that is the case, you may still be able to help through Northwestern Medicine's kidney paired donation program — where your kidney goes to another recipient, and I receive a compatible kidney in exchange.For cases where a paired exchange is not possible, Northwestern Medicine is also one of only a handful of centers in the nation offering desensitization treatment, which can make incompatible donor-recipient pairs viable.
Why Northwestern Memorial Hospital?
My transplant will take place at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago — home to the largest living donor kidney transplant program in Illinois and one of the top programs in the country. Their team has performed more than 3,000 living donor kidney transplants and holds the highest possible rating for one-year kidney transplant survival outcomes.
You will be in exceptional hands — and so will I.
How you can help
Start with the questionnaire.
The first step is simple and confidential. Northwestern Medicine's Living Donor Team has an online health history questionnaire to determine whether you may qualify. It takes just a few minutes and carries no obligation.
Learn more from Northwestern Medicine.
Visit Northwestern Medicine's Living Donor page for detailed information about the evaluation process, surgery, and recovery. Northwestern Medicine: Living Kidney Donors