How Donation Works

Book Reviews: Need Summer Reading Ideas?!

Summer is only halfway over and parents are ready for kids to be back in school! Vacations are mostly over, school supplies are on sale and back to school clothes are out in the stores. It’s also when we remember that there is probably a summer reading assignment hiding in the backpack that hasn’t been […]


Did You Know: You Might Be A Tissue Recipient?

June 18, 2022 // How Donation Works

What is Tissue Donation? Most people are familiar with what it means to be an organ donor. You can also save and heal others through tissue donation. In fact, you might be the recipient of a tissue donation without even knowing it! Signing up to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor after death means that you […]


Kids Need Transplants Too: National Pediatric Transplant Week 2022

Every year during the last week of National Donate Life Month, we celebrate National Pediatric Transplant Week, a time to talk about efforts to end the pediatric transplant waiting list and recognize those that have been touched by pediatric organ, eye and tissue donation. Throughout the week, clinical partners are encouraged to share patient stories, […]


How is Someone Added to the National Transplant Waiting List?

Have you ever wondered how someone is listed on the national transplant waiting list? We often hear about the national waiting list and the thousands of people waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, but not everybody is familiar with how the listing process works. In this edition of Donation Essentials, we break down how the […]


Transplantation Science – A Free Program for Grades 6-12

November is the month of gratitude and this November, we’d like to take a moment to thank all of the teachers who support our Transplantation Science program every year. We are grateful that you continue to look for ways to bring interactive activities into your classroom and value the feedback you give us. Support your […]


¿Por qué no se puede vender órganos en Estados Unidos?

Una pregunta que nos hacen ocasionalmente es si una persona puede vender sus órganos o recibir algún tipo de incentivo financiero por donarlos. En corto, la respuesta es NO. Te invitamos a seguir leyendo para aprender más sobre las bases legales de la donación de órganos y tejidos y por qué estos son considerados un […]


Can You Sell Organs in the United States?

A question we get asked occasionally is whether a person can sell their organs or receive some form of financial incentive for donating them. In short, the answer is NO. Selling Organs in the United States is Illegal In fact, it’s illegal to sell organs and tissues for transplants in the United States. The National […]


Hablando de los riñones: desde la enfermedad renal hasta los trasplantes

En su mayor parte, todo el mundo nace con dos riñones que funcionan de forma saludable. La mayoría de las personas no piensa en sus riñones a diario, pero para aquellos sufren de enfermedad renal o para los receptores de un trasplante de riñón, esos dos pequeños órganos en forma de frijol son muy importantes. […]


Back to Kidney Basics: From Disease to Donation and Transplant

For the most part, everyone is born with two healthy functioning kidneys. Most people don’t think about their kidneys on a daily basis, but for those with kidney disease or kidney transplant recipients, those two small bean-shaped organs are very important. The National Kidney Foundation or NKF is joining us during National Kidney Month to […]


The Heart Truth about Heart Donation and Transplant

When we think of February, we often picture a heart. This heart symbolizes many things; from love, to Valentine’s Day, to American Heart Month. But for others, a heart holds a much deeper meaning. For those few individuals who have received a heart transplant, it symbolizes the difference between life and death and every thumping […]


Presumed Consent or Opt-Out: What does it mean?

December 10, 2020 // How Donation Works

You may have been hearing the term “presumed consent” or “opt-out” lately when it comes to organ and tissue donation around the world. The UK is the most recent country to adopt legislation that supports this. The United States operates under an opt-in, first-person consent system. This means individuals must personally, actively sign up on […]


Book Discussion: “The Organ Thieves” – Lessons Learned, Shaping the Future Actions within Donation & Transplantation

With the recent publication of the book The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South, we must acknowledge the past transgressions within the healthcare system and donation and transplantation field in the United States. The Organ Thieves is about Bruce Tucker, a Black man who suffered a head […]