Kidneys for Kids is focused on confronting the critical shortage of Kidneys that are available for life-saving transplants. By advocating nationwide for the need for kidneys – especially those from living donors – we are helping children get transplants in months instead of years, enabling them to enjoy a more active and independent life.
Why Donate?
There are almost 100,000 individuals on the National Transplant Waiting List in need of a life-saving kidney transplant. During 2016 only 28 percent received their second chance at life.And almost 2,000 Children are on that list today.
Individuals on the National Transplant Waiting List are currently waiting up to 10 years for a transplant generally from deceased donors, often causing lengthy delays..
At Kidneys for Kids,, we focus on living organ donation where the need is most critical.
Kidney. This is the most common living donor transplant, as 82 percent of those on the national transplant list need a kidney.
Living Donation
Living organ donation first emerged in 1954, when a kidney from one twin was successfully transplanted into his brother. It has become an increasingly important way to help confront the shortage of organs available for transplants, reduce wait times for recipients, and give people a second chance at a fuller, more independent life.
There are three categories of living donations:
Directed. Donors specify to whom they want to donate an organ. They can include biological relatives; a biologically unrelated individual connected to the potential recipient, such as a spouse, friend, or co-worker; or a biologically unrelated person who has heard about someone in need of a transplant.
Non-directed (altruistic). Donors give to an anonymous recipient on the national waiting list. The match between donor and recipient is based on medical compatibility.
Paired. This involves two or more pairs of living kidney donors and recipients who are not medically compatible. The transplant candidates “trade” donors so that each receives an organ from someone with a matching blood type.
