Living Donor Facts
- All medical costs related to the donor’s evaluation, testing & surgery are covered by the recipient’s insurance
- Travel and Lodging expenses can be covered by the recipient or by Kidney Organizations
- Some Kidney Organizations offer to cover lost wages during the recovery period
- Donor surgery is performed Laparoscopically which is “minimally invasive” with only small incisions
- Donors experience less pain, shorter recovery time & less scaring with laparoscopic surgery
- Donor is usually hospitalized for 1-2 days and recovery is expected to last on average 2-4 weeks
- Donor is able to return to a normal life after a few weeks after surgery
- Medically eligible donors can participate in the Paired Exchange Program on behalf of their recipient should they not be a perfect match.
- The Paired Exchange Program is when an incompatible donor-recipient pair "exchanges or swaps" their kidneys with another incompatible donor-recipient pair resulting in both recipients receiving a compatible living kidney donor transplant. This process increases the potential and probability of the recipient needing a kidney receiving a living kidney donor transplant sooner than later rather than solely depending and waiting upon a kidney transplant from finding their own direct match living kidney donor.