Yes, female donors can become pregnant after donating a kidney. It is generally recommended that female kidney donors wait at least 6 to 12 months after donation to become pregnant. In addition, the kidney donation should be discussed with the physician managing the potential pregnancy.

Although the outcomes of pregnancy after kidney donation appears to be similar to that of the general population, some studies have shown that there may be an increased risk of preeclampsia/high blood pressure in women who previously donated a kidney. This is why it is important for female donors to discuss their kidney donation with their obstetrician/gynecologist. 

After you are discharged from the hospital, you will usually come back to see your surgeon about 2 weeks after the surgery. You should also return to the transplant center for follow-up visits at 6, 12, and 24 months after donating. 

Kidney donation should not impact your lifestyle. Since kidney donors are healthy and generally have good health habits, it is recommended to continue to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating a healthy diet, exercising, not smoking, etc.

Please visit the "Maintaining Health After Donation" section of the Life After Donation page for more information.

The recovery process is another area that will vary greatly from donor to donor. In general however, most donors undergoing laparoscopic procedures to remove their kidney feel back to "normal" or back to "100%" of their usual activities by about one month after the surgery.

The answer to this question depends on the type of work that you do. People who work in an office setting usually return to work in 2 to 3 weeks, while people with more physically demanding jobs may need to recover 4 to 6 weeks before returning to work.

The scar(s) you will have depends on the type of surgery that you have. Most patients will have at least one incision (which is the incision through which the kidney is removed) that is approximately 3 inches long.

This main incision may be concealed within the belly button or may be several inches below the belly button, depending on the type of surgery.

Additional small incisions (2 to 4) may be present on the abdomen; these are the incisions through which the laparoscopic instruments are placed.

Please visit the "Scarring/Cosmetic Risks" section of the Risks and Benefits of Living Kidney Donation page to view pictures of typical scars from the different procedures used to remove the kidney.

Using today's surgical techniques (conventional laparoscopic or single site surgery), most donors are in the hospital for approximately two days.

The morning after the surgery, the bladder catheter placed during the surgery is removed, you begin to walk around, and you are placed on a clear liquid diet. On the second morning, most patients receive solid food, and are discharged home later in the day.

The amount and degree of pain that each donor will experience is highly individualized. People have very different pain thresholds, and this impacts how donors will feel after their surgery as well as how much pain medication they require after donating.

Donors usually receive intravenous pain medication for about a day after the surgery, and are then transitioned to oral pain medications. After discharge from the hospital, the donor may require pain medication anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after the surgery. Although it is rare, some donors do develop chronic pain issues after the surgery.

The operation to remove your kidney does involve risk, since you are undergoing surgery requiring general anesthesia, similar to any other laparoscopic surgery (such as removal of your gallbladder).

These risks include pain, infection, blood clots, reaction to anesthesia, conversion to open nephrectomy, need for re-operation, need for re-admission to the hospital, hernia development, intestinal obstruction, and death.

Please visit the Risks and Benefits of Living Kidney Donation section to see a detailed description of the potential complications of this procedure.

Each transplant center will have instructions for the donor that may vary slightly. Timing of the preparation will also vary depending on the time of day that your surgery is scheduled for.

An example of donor preparation includes:

• The day before your scheduled surgery, you will need to take in only clear liquids beginning at noon.
• At 4p.m., you take 5 ounces of magnesium citrate (known as your bowel prep), which will cause you to have bowel movements that will help to clear out your intestines.
• From midnight on, you should not eat or drink anything.