For Living-Donor Transplant Candidates

If you’re considering becoming a living kidney or liver donor, UPMC experts have the information you need to help you decide whether living organ donation is the right choice for you.

Register to Become a Living Organ Donor

To schedule an evaluation for living donation, please select the location you would like to register at below, complete the form, and a member of the transplant team will reach out to you in the near future.

Why Become a Living Donor?

Living donor transplants help save the lives of people with end-stage liver or kidney disease by reducing their time on the national transplant waiting list. Because they are healthier at the time of transplant, these patients often have improved outcomes and a quicker recovery.

Living donors are given the rare chance to save someone else’s life and see their friend, loved one, or even a stranger return to health and happiness.

Learn more about becoming a living donor.

Our Living-Donor Services

We offer living-donor transplant services, including:

• Living-donor kidney transplant — A surgeon removes one kidney from a healthy adult and transplants it into a patient with end-stage kidney disease. This procedure is possible because, although you have two kidneys, you can live a perfectly healthy life with only one working kidney.
• Living-donor liver transplant — A surgeon removes a portion of a healthy adult’s liver and transplants it into a patient with end-stage liver disease. The liver has the unique ability to regenerate, or regrow, in just a few months, leaving both the living donor and the recipient with a fully functioning liver.

Types of Living Donation

There are three main types of living donation, including:

• Directed donation — A living donor chooses a recipient for their organ. Often, directed donations are made by family members or close friends.
• Nondirected donation — Also known as an altruistic donation, a living donor gives their organ to someone they don’t know. The donation may be anonymous.
• Paired donation — Also known as a “swap,” this occurs when two or more recipients trade willing donors. Paired donations occur when a living donor and their intended recipient are not a match.

Advanced donation for living donors

Another type of living donation is known as advanced donation. Advanced donation is an option when a living donor needs to donate their organ right away, but the recipient is not yet medically eligible for a transplant.

In this situation, the donor would have their living-donor surgery right away. Their intended transplant recipient would receive a voucher that can be redeemed for an available organ when they are ready.