How to Find a Living Donor

If you are one of the thousands of people waiting for a liver or kidney transplant, living donor services could save your life. However, asking someone to be your donor might feel overwhelming.

Through UPMC’s Living Donor Champion Program, you can get resources to help you in your search for a living donor.

How Difficult Is It To Find A Living Donor?

Finding a living donor when you need an organ transplant requires planning, patience, and persistence. Although some transplant recipients have a friend or family member who immediately comes forward, others may need to conduct an extensive search. UPMC provides resources to assist transplant recipients in their search.

How do I find a living donor who is a match?

Your living donor needs to be a “match” to ensure that their organ is compatible with your body and reduce your risks of complications. After a living donor comes forward, your transplant team will evaluate your donor to make sure they are a match for you.

What if my living donor is not a match?

If your living donor is not a match, you may be able to participate in a living-donor paired exchange.

In a paired exchange, a living donor and recipient whose blood types are incompatible are matched with another incompatible living donor and recipient pair. The living donors agree to swap, or exchange, recipients. This allows both recipients to receive a compatible organ.

Is there a living donor list?

There is no universal living donor list. However, organizations such as the National Kidney Registry, Donate Life America, the American Transplant Foundation, American Liver Foundation’s Living Donor Network, and individual transplant centers may keep listings of potential living donors.

Living Donor Champion Program

A Living Donor Champion is a family member, friend, or loved one who takes the lead in finding you a living donor, allowing you to focus on your health.

A Champion's role includes:

• Connecting and talking with as many people as possible so that an appropriate match can be found.
• Finding a living donor in a timely fashion.
• Offering support and inspiration through this difficult journey.
• Taking the responsibility of identifying a donor away from the person, allowing him or her to focus on their health.

You and your Champion can take advantage of the resources UPMC offers by:

• Attending a free Living Donor Champion Workshop for kidney or liver transplant.
• Learning about strategies to find a living donor in the UPMC Living Donor Champion Toolkit:
  • UPMC Hamot Kidney Transplant Services Toolkit (PDF).
  • UPMC Harrisburg Kidney Transplant Services Toolkit (PDF).
  • UPMC Montefiore Liver and Kidney Transplant Services Toolkit (PDF).
• Meeting with members of the UPMC Living Donor Transplant Team.

Sharing Your Story

While there are many ways you and your Champion can find a living donor, the most important way you can make an impact is by sharing your story.

There are multiple platforms to use when sharing your story. The more ways you share, the more likely you are to find a living donor. We encourage you to use:

• Social media.
• Social settings, such as religious services, schools, and other social gatherings.
• Word-of-mouth.
• UPMC Living Donor Champion Support Group.

Get started with our Sharing Your Story Worksheet (PDF).

Living Donor Champion Support Group

Living donors, transplant recipients, and loved ones face unique physical, emotional, social, and financial challenges throughout the transplant journey. Our Living Donor Champion Support Group provides ideas, inspiration, and support for people who are searching for living organ donors.

If you have already attended a UPMC Living Donor Champion Workshop, please join our Champion Support Group on Facebook.