The human body is remarkably resilient. In some cases, it can safely share an organ — or even regenerate part of one — to help someone else live longer and healthier.

“People are often surprised by how much life one person can give,” says Juan C. Caicedo Ramirez, MD, director, Northwestern Medicine Living Donor Liver Transplant Program. “Donation doesn't just help one patient. In many cases, it helps many.”

How and What Can You Donate?

There are two main types of organ transplantation:

Deceased donor organ transplantation

This occurs when organs and tissues are donated after a person has died and had previously registered as an organ donor. Donation is considered only after all lifesaving efforts have ended and death has been legally declared.

A specially trained organ procurement team works closely with the transplant surgical team to determine which organs and tissues can be donated safely. This decision is based on several donor-specific factors, including:

• Medical condition
• Medical history
• Blood type
• Tissue type
• Body size

Organs that may be transplanted include:

• Heart
• Lungs
• Kidneys
• Liver
• Pancreas
• Intestines

Tissues that may be donated include:

• Corneas
• Skin
• Bone
• Heart valves
• Tendons and ligaments

Because multiple organs and tissues may be donated, one deceased donor can save up to eight lives through organ transplantation and improve the lives of over 75 more people through tissue donation.

Living donor organ transplantation

This approach involves removing an organ or part of an organ from a healthy person and transplanting it into someone whose organ is no longer functioning. Living donors may give:

• One kidney
• A portion of the liver

The liver is unique. “You can remove up to 70% of someone's liver, and it will grow back,” says Dr. Caicedo Ramirez.

Today, most organ transplants come from deceased donors, but living donation plays a critical role — especially for kidney and liver transplants. It may also allow transplant surgery to happen sooner, which can support better outcomes for recipients.

Recovery and Long‑Term Health for Living Donors

Living donors are carefully evaluated before surgery and closely monitored afterward. Most spend several days in the hospital and continue recovery at home for a few weeks.

Most living organ donors:

• Have life expectancy similar to the general population
• Return to normal daily activities after recovery
• Receive ongoing follow‑up care

Who Can Be a Donor?

Anyone can register to be an organ donor, but not everyone who wants to donate is eligible. Potential living donors must be in relatively good health, both physically and emotionally. Additionally, kidney donors need to be at least 18 years old, and liver donors must be 18 to 60 years old.

As a potential living donor, you'll go through a confidential evaluation process to assess the health of your organs, emotional readiness and your understanding of organ donation.

“We want to ensure that donors are ready,” says Dr. Caicedo Ramirez. “They have to convince us that they should donate. The safety of the donor is the most important consideration in this process.”

How Is a Match Determined?

Organ donation can occur in two ways:

• Directed donation: A donor allocates an organ to a specific recipient, such as a friend or family member. This is the most common type of living donor transplantation.
• Nondirected donation: A donor donates an organ without choosing a specific recipient. This can happen if you:
• Register as an organ donor, often displayed on your driver's license
• Choose to donate through a health system, which will then match the organ to a recipient at the top of the organ transplant waiting list
• This choice is also available to living kidney and liver donors.

Then, transplant care teams determine organ compatibility by reviewing the donor's medical needs and blood type, and the anatomy and size of the organ.

What if a Living Donor Is Not a Match?

Approximately one‐third of living donors who come forward are not matches for their intended recipient because their blood type and immune system are incompatible.

In the past, incompatibility would rule out a donor and recipient pair. Now, there are two options:

• Desensitization treatment: Before and after a transplant, patients can undergo treatments that help make their antibodies compatible with the donor kidney. Typically, three to five treatments are required before transplant.

Patients who undergo desensitization often maintain good kidney function and overall health after transplant, with long-term outcomes comparable to compatible donor transplants.

• Kidney paired donation (KPD): If a donor and recipient aren't compatible, they can be paired with another donor-recipient pair in the same situation. This allows both recipients to receive a compatible kidney.

What Conditions Can Require Organ Donation?

Organ failure can result from many medical conditions, including:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Hepatitis B and C
• Kidney or liver failure
• Cardiomyopathy, or disease of the heart muscle
• Short bowel syndrome, or disease of the small intestine
• Polycystic kidneys
• Cirrhosis, or the scarring of the liver
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or the loss of lung function
• Coronary heart disease
• Cystic fibrosis (CF)

Is Organ Donation Risky?

There are many myths surrounding the safety of living donation. However, the health of each donor comes first.

“The guiding principle is that minimizing the risk and protecting the safety of the donor is the most important piece of the process,” says Dr. Caicedo Ramirez.

For living donors, the donation procedure uses a minimally invasive approach, which can mean less pain, a shorter hospital stay and faster recovery than traditional open surgery. For deceased donors, donation is only considered once all avenues are exhausted to save the potential donor's life.

All organ donation is completely voluntary. Donors have the power to change lives and provide hope to those in need.

Register to become an organ donor today.