Become a Kidney Donor

All forms of organ donation are considered honorable, selfless acts and can completely change the lives of the recipients, whether you’re donating to your family or a stranger. Thank you.

you must be at least 18 years of age.

Some medical conditions may prevent you from being a kidney donor, such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer; but consult with your transplant center.

Transplant centers may have different requirements, but you may go to as many centers as you would like.

Transplant Centers in and around Tidewater

• Sentara Norfolk Transplant Center – Norfolk, Va
• VCU Hume-Lee Transplant Center – Richmond, Va
• Inova Fairfax Transplant Center – Fairfax, Va
• UVA Health Transplant Center – Charlottesville, VA
• Henrico Doctor’s Hospital Virginia Transplant Center – Richmond, Va

Two Types of Kidney Donation

• Directed Donation – Directed donation occurs when the donor KNOWS the specific person they want to donate to. Usually, this is a direct family member or friend, but it doesn’t have to be. As long as you meet all the medical, mental, and physical requirements to be a donor, and you are a match, you can choose whomever you want to donate to.
• Non-Directed Donation – Non-directed donation occurs when the donor DOES NOT KNOW the specific person they want to donate to. Again as long as you meet all the medical, mental, and physical requirements you can donate to a complete stranger if you want.

Paired Kidney Exchange

Paired Kidney Exchange occurs when a donor wants to donate to someone in need but isn’t a match. In essence, it is a chain reaction of kidney donations where you are a match for someone else, and someone else is a match for whom you wanted to donate to. These chains can be 2+ donations long and are amazing to see. The longest paired kidney exchange chain, recognized by Guinness World Records, involved 25 transplant centers and 70 surgeries across 3 months, benefiting 35 patients with living-donors!

Here are some myths about kidney donation told by the chief clinical transplant coordinator at Hackensack Meridian Health, Marian Charlton, RN, CCTC. Shared on YouTube by Summit Pointe Productions

The testing to become a kidney donor is covered by the kidney recipients insurance, including the evaluation, surgery, and post-operative care.