The following are common questions pertaining to organ donation that were written and answered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources in Rockville, Maryland. Updates have been made by OneLegacy to reflect current statistics.

1. Who can donate?

     Anyone over the age of 18 years of age can indicate their desire to be an organ donor by signing a donor card, or by expressing their wishes to family members. Relatives can donate a deceased family members organs and tissues, including those of family members under the age of 18 years. Donation of heart, pancreas, small bowel, liver, lung, or heart/lung can occur only in the case of brain death. The donation of tissues such as bone, skin, or corneas can occur regardless of age and with almost any cause of death. Contact your local tissue bank for their criteria.

2. Can you donate an organ while you are still alive?

     Certain kinds of transplants can be done using living donors. For example, almost 20 percent of all kidney transplants are performed with living donors. The donor is often related to the person needing the transplant, and can live a normal life with just one kidney. Also, there are new methods of transplanting part of a living adults liver to a child who needs a liver transplant. Part of a lung or pancreas from a living donor can also be transplanted.

3. Can you still choose to donate if you are younger than 18 years of age?

     Yes, but only with the consent of an adult who is legally responsible for you, such as your parent or legal guardian. The adult or adults should witness your signature on a donor card.

4. What can be donated?

     Organs that can be donated include: kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, and small bowel. Some of the tissues that can be donated include: corneas, skin, bone, middle-ear, bone marrow, connective tissues, blood vessels, and heart valves. Total body donation is also an option. Medical schools, research facilities, and other agencies need to study bodies to gain a greater understanding of disease mechanisms in humans. This research is vital to saving and improving lives. If you wish to donate your entire body, you should directly contact the facility of your choice to make the arrangements. These arrangements must be made prior to death.

5. Are there religious objections to organ/tissue donation?

     Most major religious groups in the United States approve and support the principles and practices of organ/tissue donation. Transplantation is also consistent with life preserving traditions of most faiths. However, if you have any doubts, you should discuss them with your spiritual leader.

6. Does the donors family have to pay for the cost of organ donation?

     No. The donor's family neither pays for, nor receives payment for, organ and tissue donation. Hospital expenses incurred in attempts to save the donors life, and funeral or cremation expenses, remain the responsibility of the donors estate. All cost related to the actual donation are paid for by the organ procurement programs and transplant centers.

7. Will the quality of hospital treatment and efforts to save your life be lessened if the medical staff knows you are willing to be a donor?

     No. A transplant team does not become involved until other physicians involved in the patients care have determined that all possible efforts to save the patients life have failed and the patients has been declared brain dead by two independent physicians licensed in California.

8. What is brain death?

     Brain death occurs when a person has an irreversible, catastrophic brain injury, which causes all brain activity to stop permanently. In such cases, the heart and lungs can continue to function temporarily by means of medical management and ventilator support. However, these functions also will cease when the machines are disconnected. Brain death is an accepted medical, ethical, and legal principle. The standards (as set by each individual hospital policy and procedures) for determining that someone is brain dead are very strict.

9. What if members of your family are opposed to donation?

     You can have an attorney put your request in writing or complete a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare. This document, along with your donor card, may help ensure that your wishes will be honored. In any case, tell your family that you have decided to become a donor in the event of your death.

10. Why should minorities be particularly concerned about organ donation?

     Minorities suffer from end-stage renal disease (ESRD) much more frequently than do Caucasians. Asian Americans are three times more likely than Caucasians to develop ESRD; Hispanics are three times as likely; and African Americans are twice as likely as Caucasians to develop ESRD. ESRD is treatable with dialysis, however, dialysis is costly and can result in a poor quality of life for the patient. The preferred treatment of ESRD is kidney transplantation. Transplantation offers the patient freedom from dialysis, leading to a more normal lifestyle, and can successfully cure ESRD for many years. With any transplant procedure, it is very important to assure a close match between donor and recipient blood types and genetic make-up. Members of certain racial and ethnic groups are usually more genetically similar to members of their own group than they are to others. It is important therefore to increase the minority donor pool so that good matches can be made as frequently as possible for all patients. The closer the match, the less chance the recipient will reject the donated organ.