Organ Donation

Organ donation is when a person allows an organ of theirs to be removed, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or after death with the assent of the next of kin.

Donation may be for research, or, more commonly healthy transplantable organs and tissues may be donated to be transplanted into another person.

Common transplantations include: kidneys, heart, liver, pancreas, intestines, lungs, bones, bone marrow, skin, and corneas. Some organs and tissues can be donated by living donors, such as a kidney or part of the liver, part of the pancreas, part of the lungs or part of the intestines,³ but most donations occur after the donor has died.