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Home » Vision » March-April 2020 » More people considering organ donation while alive

More people considering organ donation while alive

By David Lichter
Executive Director

My driver’s license has one of those little orange circles in the lower right corner with the word “donor” inside it. On the back is my signature, dated May 5, 2017, with a check mark next to “All organs, tissues, and eyes.” I would not envy the person who would get my eyes, and, as I age, I am sure there is a natural elimination process that will make the harvesting shorter work. However, I just read in our local paper the obituary of a religious sister who donated her body to the Medical College of Wisconsin!

Donate for Life notes that while 95 percent of US adults support organ donations, only 54 percent are actual registered donors. Statistics show that 38 percent of people with a driver’s license choose to be a donor, but less than 1 percent of all deaths occur in a way that allow organ donations to be possible. Most of us are well aware of the statistics of how many people are on the waiting list for organs.

I am grateful that we have several very fine articles on chaplaincy and organ donations in this issue of Vision. They provide pastoral approaches, but also explain well the Catholic ethical tradition regarding organ donations and how to be with families at the time of an organ donation.

I suspect we all also know family members and friends who have thought about or have made donations. My wife, Jackie, went through the process a few years ago when her dear friend, Laurie, needed a kidney, and Jackie wanted to donate hers. But after all the testing and preparation, when the time came, Laurie could no longer physically go through the transplant procedure. She died not long ago.

I suspect we all know family members and friends who have thought about or have made donations.

Jackie continues to think about donating that kidney, and another cousin recently offered another good example, as she gave hers in a multiple organ transplant event. Our cousin documented the donation via Facebook and other social media — not for self-aggrandizement, but to share the value and ease of doing so, even though it was initially painful and kept her out of work for a few days. She feels a part of a larger giving community of donors now also.

These examples have me thinking about a growing culture of donors who have made giving organs while alive much a more acceptable and possible—even attractive—choice for people, even though it’s not yet on par with giving blood. Organdonor.gov notes that nearly 6,000 living donations happen each year, which is about four out of every ten donations. That’s a hefty percentage.

I hope this issue’s articles help all of us to speak about and encourage a culture of donations, abate the fear, and assist families in discussing the most common fears and misgivings.


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Organ Donation: Choice, gift, and ministry

More people considering organ donation while alive – by David Lichter, Executive Director

Pastorally sensitive process helps families understand neurological death – by D.W. Donovan

When the gift can’t be received: The double loss of organ rejection – by Anne M. Windholz

Organ procurement groups can collaborate with chaplains – by Kelly Edwards, Gift of Life Donor Program

Advance directives make ideal time to plan organ donation – by James L. Robinson

Priest’s gift of kidney to parishioner gives everyone new outlook on life – by Rev. Martin J. Bancroft, Jr.

Ethics of organ donation range across many realms – by Steven J. Squires

Weight of history works against African-American donations – by Daniel Waters

End of life and organ donation may look different to Muslims – by Rev. Alejandro De Jesus

Parents choose to share their son with others in need – by Colette Hanlon

Research literature sheds light on organ donation process – by Austine Duru

Dementia communication tools will benefit professionals – by Anne M. Windholz

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