How to Donate Your Organs (or Your Entire Body) After Death
You won’t be able to take anything with you when you die, including your body. Without serving you, your organs would simply rot, which would be a real shame, since some of them could help other people. If you’re contemplating a way to make your last act an act of goodwill, here’s how to make sure your organs – or even your entire body – will be donated to someone’s benefit after you die.
How to become an organ donor
On OrganDonor.gov, you can select your state and join its registry. You can also register in person at your local DMV, which is why you see some driver’s licenses stamped with “donor”. In most states, you can even choose which organs and tissues you want to donate, so take the time to consider whether you want to donate your organs, eyes, or tissues—or just want to donate them all. If you have an iPhone, you can even sign up to donate your organs in the Health app on your phone . In this case, you will be entered in the national register of organ donors.
What happens when you become a donor?
There is no guarantee that your organs will be donated at the time of your death. If you die (or are close to dying), the hospital will notify your local organ procurement organization, which follows federal guidelines. OPO will decide if you are a possible donor, and if so, someone from the organization will go to the hospital. They will check if you are willing to donate and then review your medical and social history. If your organs are then eligible for donation, OPO will contact the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, which maintains a list of everyone waiting for a transplant. Their system may come back with a possible match, but the decision is ultimately in the hands of the transplant surgeon, who will decide if your organ is a good fit for his patient.
You won’t be denied help if you’re a donor, and doctors will obviously try to save your life no matter what. And don’t worry about the possibility that you wo n’t actually die before the removal happens: the Mayo Clinic does even more tests to determine if you’re actually dead if you’re a donor than if you’re not. (It won’t cost your family any extra money.)
How to Prepare Now to Become an Organ Donor
There are very few medical conditions that will automatically disqualify you from organ donation, so don’t let concerns about your medical history keep you from registering on the registry.
If you’re really feeling generous, you might even consider donating an organ while you’re still alive. You can donate one of your kidneys, a lobe of your liver, a lung (or part of one), part of your pancreas, or part of your intestines while you are still alive and well. You can also donate skin, bones, healthy bone marrow and cord blood cells, amnion, blood and platelets while still alive. Ideally, you should not have diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, kidney or heart disease. Go here for more information .
While good health is ideal, especially if you’re trying to donate in your lifetime, don’t spend too much time worrying about kidney, eye, or tissue deficiencies. This decision can be made by doctors.
How about a whole body donation?
Donating your body to science is a little more difficult than registering as an organ donor. Contact your local hospital or medical school to find out how you should proceed, as these donations are matched with the institution that will receive your body after your death. You may need to sign a document agreeing in advance that you want your body to be donated to a specific hospital or university.
In some cases, you can expect your next of kin to contact the medical school or hospital themselves. Whether you want to donate organs, tissues, or your entire body, you need to talk to your friends and family about it now so there are no surprises when you die. They are expected to work to some degree with an organization that may end up taking your organs or body.