For many donors, the benefit of donating a kidney is often personal one. Each donor's motivations may vary greatly and each donor has a unique experience as they go through the journey of donating their kidney, from the initial decision to be evaluated as a potential donor to years after the donation occurs. 

Key findings of various research studies that have attempted to quantify the benefits and/or quality of life after kidney donation include:

• Kidney donors tend to have higher quality of life scores after donation, as compared to the general population.

• This may be related to an increase in the donor's self-esteem and an increased sense of well-being

• Donors have similar or improved psychosocial health after donation.

The intense screening process that donors must undergo has also helped some potential donors discover serious health issues that require medical attention. At times, screening has led to early detection of kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiac disease, which can benefit from early diagnosis and intervention.

Many people are frustrated by their inability to donate; some are prior kidney donors who obviously cannot donate again, others want to donate but are ruled out because of their own medical problems, others want to donate but for financial or work-related issues just cannot afford to donate, and others are children too young to donate but who want to help a loved one or friend.

There is a huge role that this group of people can play in the lives of someone (or many people) who need a transplant: They can become an advocate for living kidney donation and educate others about living kidney donation.

We have developed a "Kidney Champion" program to assist people like you in educating others about living donation. Please visit the Living Donor Kidney Champions page to learn more.

There are several options that are available if a potential donor is not compatible with their intended recipient.

If available, the person needing a kidney could bring other donors forward to be tested to see if a match can be found.

Another option is to sign up to participate in a Kidney Paired Donation program, where you and your intended recipient would enter a registry of other incompatible pairs in hopes of being matched to someone with whom you are compatible, while your intended recipient receives a transplant from another donor within the registry.

Kidney donors do not need to be a blood relative of the person in order to donate.

Although blood relatives can often provide a better genetic match than an unrelated donor, the availability of newer, more potent anti-rejection medications makes genetic matching much less important than it was in the early years of transplantation. 

An increasing number of unrelated people are serving as living kidney donors, and could be spouses, partners, in-laws, friends, co-workers, neighbors, community members, and other acquaintances. Even total strangers are serving as kidney donors through programs that enable Good Samaritans (also called altruistic or non-directed donors) to donate because they have a desire to donate but do not have a specific person they want to give their kidney to.

The evaluation process involves both a psychosocial and medical component.

The psychosocial evaluation is performed by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker, and addresses issues such as motivation guiding decision to donate, ability to understand the risks of donation, availability of support during the recovery period after donation, financial impact of donation, impact of donation on insurability, and other important issues.

The medical aspect of the evaluation process ensures that the potential donor is healthy enough to donate and not at high risk for developing diseases that could impact the function of their remaining kidney. Components of the medical evaluation include general medical history, social history, physical exam, kidney-focused exam, general laboratory tests, kidney-focused laboratory tests, immunological testing (blood type and crossmatch compatibility), metabolic-focused testing (to look for issues such as diabetes or high cholesterol), anatomic assessment of the kidneys and their blood flow, screening for transmissible diseases (such as HIV and hepatitis), and cancer screening.

You must be a minimum of 21 years old to be a living donor at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. We have had living donors in their late 70's successfully donate kidneys. Each person is evaluated on a case by case basis.

The answer to this question depends on your individual situation.

If you have someone specific that you want to donate to, you should contact the transplant center where your intended recipient is being evaluated and/or is on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. The transplant center will then refer you to the donor team responsible for evaluating potential donors, and they will explain what your next steps are.

If you are interested in being an altruistic donor, that is, you want to donate a kidney but do not have a specific recipient in mind, you can contact one of several organizations that registers people who are interested in serving as an altruistic donor, such as the National Kidney Registry or the OPTN Kidney Paired Donation Pilot Program. You can also contact a local transplant center near your home and ask to speak with someone on the donor team.

A good living donor is motivated to donate, free of coercion, healthy, and has normal kidney function. The person must be both medically and psychosocially fit, and must understand the risks of donation. Visit the Risks and Benefits of Living Kidney Donation section for more detailed information.

The answer to this question varies from center to center. Some transplant centers will not allow active smokers to donate, while others will. In either case, becoming a kidney donor can be an important impetus to assist you in quitting, and some transplant centers will assist you in this endeavor. 

The concern is related to an increased risk of pulmonary, cardiovascular, and wound healing complications that is seen in the general population of smokers undergoing anesthesia.

Although kidney donors represent healthy people undergoing surgery, and therefore the risk of complications is likely not as high, it is still important to take smoking status into consideration. 

There is little data specific to the population of people undergoing donor nephrectomy. One study found an increased risk of wound complications in donors who smoke, while another study found no difference in complications surrounding the surgery.

At Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, we strongly advise potential donors to stop smoking at least four weeks prior to their scheduled surgery.

Yes, it is possible for an adult to donate a kidney to a child in need of a transplant. Children usually need to be about 2 years old before it is feasible to put an adult-sized kidney into their body. Depending on the size of the child, the transplant surgeon may place the kidney in a different position compared to a standard kidney transplant.