Home » New England Donor Services
New England Donor Services
Donation FAQs
How do I become an organ and tissue donor?
If I change my mind, can I remove myself from the registry?
If you register online through Donate Life America, you can change your registration status at any time at www.RegisterMe.org. If you registered as a donor through your state’s driver’s license process, you must remove yourself through your state’s motor vehicle department. (If you registered on the old Donate Life New England registry you may remove yourself here).
How serious is the organ shortage?
What can be donated?
What are the criteria for becoming a donor?
Will there be a cost to my family if I donate?
Does a patient who is rich or influential receive special consideration in organ distribution?
Although celebrities get most of the media attention, the fact is that thousands of other patients receive donated organs as well. Donor organs are matched to recipients based on blood and tissue type, geographic location and medical urgency. Organ allocation is blind to wealth or social status. Further, factors such as race, gender, age or celebrity status are not considered when determining who receives an organ.
Does my religion support organ and tissue donation?
If I’m registered to donate and I am admitted to a hospital, will they let me die so they can recover my organs?
What are the steps involved in organ and tissue donation?
Federal regulations require hospitals to notify the local Organ Procurement Organization of the death or impending death of every patient so that donor registrations can be honored or so that families can have the option to choose donation. The OPO staff makes an initial determination about any possible medical disqualifications for organ and tissue donation, and if there are none immediately apparent, a trained donation professional travels to the hospital to further evaluate the patient. If the potential donor is already registered, the next of kin will be notified of that fact and information about the process will be provided. In the absence of donor registration, the next-of-kin will be offered the opportunity to make the donation decision. In the case of tissue donation, the family has usually already returned home from the hospital. For this reason, the conversation about donation with OPO staff is usually made over the telephone.
Using the national computerized waiting list, OPO staff match the donated organs with the most appropriate recipients and arrange for the surgical procedure to recover the organs. Staff will also stay with the donor’s family and provide support as long as the family wishes. Immediately after the organ(s) are surgically removed from the donor, the OPO staff transports the organs to the transplant centers, where the recipients have been readied for surgery. From the time death is declared, it can take between 12 to 18 hours for the organs and tissue donation to be completed. After the donation takes place, the funeral director is notified and transportation to the funeral home is arranged. Funeral arrangements are made by the next of kin in the same way as if the deceased had not been a donor.
How are organs allocated to patients waiting for organ transplants?
Who pays for transplant surgery?
How do I become a living donor?
For more information about becoming a living donor, visit the National Kidney Foundation website. http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors/index.cfm