Donor Information | Tito Needs a Kidney

💡 Thinking about donating a kidney?
This page shares general information to help you understand the process. Every donor’s journey is unique, so be sure to speak with your transplant team for medical advice and guidance specific to you.

Life Expectancy

Donating a kidney is major surgery but has not been shown to reduce the donor’s life expectancy. Interestingly, people who have donated a kidney outlive the average person. (Fehrman-Ekholm, 1997)

Some experts attribute this to selection bias—only healthy individuals are approved to donate. Others believe the positive emotional effects of donation may contribute to better health.

Surgical Complications

Donors may experience short-term post-operative issues such as bleeding, infection, or fever. These complications are usually minor and treated with standard medical care.

Recovery Time

Kidney removal is typically done laparoscopically. Most donors go home within 1–2 days and return to work in 1–4 weeks depending on their job. Non-laparoscopic surgery has a longer recovery.

Mortality Rate

The mortality rate for living kidney donation is 0.007%, or 7 deaths per 100,000 surgeries. For comparison, the U.S. infant mortality rate in 2019 was 558 per 100,000—80 times higher.

Risk may be lower at Donor Care Network Centers of Excellence.

Long-Term Outcomes

Kidney donation does not reduce life expectancy, but research shows a small increase in lifetime kidney failure risk compared to healthy non-donors.

The increased risk is due to the fact that donors only have one kidney—but the absolute risk remains low.

Automatic Exclusions

Donors are typically excluded if they have: