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Other Forms of Living Donation

There are many forms of living donation. This page includes information and links to sites with more details on living donation other than kidney, liver, and bone marrow. Click on the subject of interest below.

Living Lung Donation | Living Pancreas Donation | Blood Donation | Living Heart Donation

Human Egg and Sperm Donation | Human Milk Donation | Living Nerve Donation

Living Skin Donation | Living Intestine Donation

Living Lung Donation

Living lung donation required two donors—one person giving one lobe and the other giving another lobe. The two lobes are combined to form a single lung for the recipient. This procedure is considered high risk to donors but may be the only practical alternative to waiting for a cadaveric donation. UNOS data report the first living lung donation in 1990. The number of donations rose to 24 in 1998.

• A general news article from WebMD on living lung donation.

• Living lobar lung transplant donor information from Duke Transplant Center.

• Living lobar lung transplant program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

• Details, including pictures, of living-related lobar donation from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

• Article on living lung donation from the Cystic Fibrosis Worldwide web site.

Living Pancreas Donation

Donation of a portion of a pancreas is still experimental. UNOS data show two to five donations per year. However, the University of Minnesota web site says they have conducted 120 live-donor pancreas transplants since 1998. Unfortunately, information on the procedure is scarce.

• Information from a diabetes FAQ

• Press release on living donor islet transplantation from University of Alberta

Blood Donation

Donating blood is commonplace, and there are several sites with information:

• America's Blood Centers

• American Red Cross

• Australian  Red Cross

• National Blood Service—blood donation in England and North Wales.

Living Heart Donation

As odd as it may sound, it is possible to make a living donation of your heart, but the circumstances obviously must be unusual. In this case, you would be an individual needing a lung transplant. You receive a heart-lung bloc donation from a cadaver, and your heart is removed (along with the diseased lungs) and donated to another person. This situation arises when the physician determines the cadaveric lungs will function better if taken with the cadaveric heart.

UNOS data report this situation is exceedingly rare. As many as 12 such living heart donations occurred in 1990, but there have been only two since 1995.

Human Egg and Sperm Donation

Treatment of infertility can include the use of donated human eggs and sperm. Here are links to sites explaining how that is done. This subject is fraught with medical, legal, and ethical/religious issues, so proceed cautiously.

• Surrogate Mothers Online includes information on egg donation.

• Egg Donation, Inc. sponsors a comprehensive site for donors and recipients including an egg donor database, step-by-step instructions, discussion of financial and legal issues, and frequently asked questions.

• A reasonably balanced Q&A on egg donation from a UK-based site.

• Donor information is available from this Atlanta sperm bank.

• Web site of a sperm bank based in California.

Human Milk Donation

Lactating women can donate breast milk to unrelated infants. Milk banks have been established in Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

• A UK page on donating breast milk.

• Ask the Dietitian web page on milk banks.

• A page from breastfeeding.com on milk banks.

Living Nerve Donation

Here is the only incidence of living nerve donation—from a mother to her infant—we are aware of:

• An article on a Mexican mother donating nerves.

Living Skin Donation

The bottom line is it is not practical to donate skin. Here are some links that explain:

• A discussion of skin donation from TransWeb.

Living Intestine Donation

It is possible to donate a portion of your intestine. This procedure is very rare.

• An article summarizing medical research on living intestine donation.

• University of Minnesota describes their experience with living intestine donation.

• Press release on living intestine procedure performed at University of Massachusetts.

© 2007 International Association of Living Organ Donors, Inc.