Living Donor or Waiting List: Which Kidney Transplant Path Fits Your Situation?

The envelope from the transplant unit sits on the kitchen table for two days before anyone opens it. Inside is a checklist, a clinic date and a single sentence that changes the conversation at dinner: “Do you have anyone who might consider being evaluated as a living donor?” For a person whose kidneys are failing, that question can feel heavier than the diagnosis itself.

Most people arrive at this point knowing two things: dialysis keeps you alive, and a transplant usually gives you more freedom. What they rarely know is how differently the two transplant routes unfold. The living donor vs deceased donor kidney decision is not really one choice. It is a series of smaller ones about timing, risk, family and how much uncertainty a household can carry.

This explainer lays out both paths as transplant teams describe them, with the evidence attached and the myths set aside, so that the conversation at the table has something solid to stand on.

Living donor vs deceased donor kidney: what the two paths actually mean

A kidney transplant is an operation that places a healthy kidney from another person into someone whose own kidneys can no longer filter waste from the blood. The donated organ can come from one of two sources, and the source shapes almost everything that follows.

A living donor is a healthy adult who agrees to give one of their two kidneys. Often this is a relative or partner, but friends, colleagues and people who volunteer without knowing the recipient also donate. The donor undergoes weeks of medical and psychological assessment before anyone books a theater date. According to the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a person can live a normal life with one functioning kidney, which is the biological premise that makes living donation possible.

A deceased donor kidney comes from someone who has died and whose family, or the person themselves during life, agreed to donation. These kidneys are matched to people on a national waiting list using blood group, tissue typing and other criteria. The call to come to the hospital can arrive at any hour, and the operation typically happens within hours of that call because the organ cannot wait.

Both routes end with the same operation for the recipient: a new kidney placed low in the abdomen, connected to blood vessels and the bladder, while the person’s own kidneys usually stay where they are. The NHS notes that the failing kidneys are normally left in place unless they are causing problems such as infection or high blood pressure.

The differences lie in the waiting, the planning, the quality of the organ at the moment of surgery and what the recipient’s household must be prepared for. Those are the differences this article works through.

How does a living donor kidney transplant work, step by step?

The first step is not surgery. It is a conversation, followed by a long and deliberately cautious evaluation.

The potential donor gives blood for typing and for cross-matching, a laboratory test that mixes donor and recipient samples to check whether the recipient’s immune system would attack the donor’s cells. Tissue typing looks at human leukocyte antigens (HLA), the protein markers that let the immune system tell self from foreign. A closer HLA match is helpful but no longer essential; modern anti-rejection medicines allow transplants between people who share few markers, as Mayo Clinic explains in its living-donor overview.

Next come scans of the donor’s kidneys and blood vessels, tests of how well each kidney filters, blood pressure checks, screening for diabetes and infection, and an independent assessment of mental health and motivation. Transplant programs assign the donor an advocate whose only job is to protect the donor’s interests, separate from the recipient’s team.

If the donor is cleared and the match is acceptable, the two operations are scheduled together. The donor’s kidney is usually removed through small keyhole incisions, a technique called laparoscopic nephrectomy, and carried to an adjacent theater. Because the organ is out of the body for a very short time, it tends to begin producing urine almost as soon as blood flows through it.

When donor and recipient are willing but incompatible by blood group or cross-match, kidney paired donation offers a workaround: two or more incompatible pairs swap donors so that each recipient receives a compatible kidney. Some programs also perform transplants across blood groups after treatments that reduce the recipient’s antibodies, though the transplant team decides whether that route is appropriate.

The whole process, from first blood test to surgery, usually runs several months, and the donor can withdraw at any point without giving a reason.

What happens with a deceased donor kidney, and how long is the kidney transplant waiting list?

Joining the waiting list is itself a medical decision. The transplant team confirms that a person is well enough for major surgery and lifelong immunosuppression, then registers them with the national allocation system. From that moment, the wait is largely outside anyone’s control.

How long is the kidney transplant waiting list? It depends on where you live, your blood group, how sensitized your immune system is and how the local system prioritizes candidates. The NHS reports that the average wait for a kidney in the UK is around 2 to 3 years, with people of blood group O and those with many pre-formed antibodies often waiting longer. Mayo Clinic describes waits in the United States as commonly stretching to several years, varying by region. These are typical ranges, not forecasts for any individual.

Deceased donor kidneys fall into two broad groups. Donation after brain death (DBD) occurs when a person’s brain has irreversibly stopped functioning while their circulation is maintained on a ventilator. Donation after circulatory death (DCD) occurs after the heart has stopped. Both types are used successfully; DCD kidneys are more likely to be slow to start working in the first days, a state clinicians call delayed graft function, which the NHS notes may require temporary dialysis after the transplant.

When an organ becomes available, the recipient is called in, re-tested for cross-match compatibility, and operated on within hours. Sometimes the call comes and the kidney turns out to be unsuitable after final checks, and the person is sent home to keep waiting. Transplant coordinators warn people about this possibility for good reason; it is common enough that packing a hospital bag in advance is standard advice.

While waiting, most people continue dialysis, attend regular reviews and are asked to report any change in health, because an untreated infection or a new heart problem can temporarily suspend a person’s active status on the list.

Living donor vs deceased donor kidney: how do the two paths compare?

Put side by side, the two routes differ less in the surgery and more in everything wrapped around it. The table below summarizes what transplant teams typically explain, drawing on NHS, Mayo Clinic and NIDDK patient guidance.

Feature	Living donor kidney	Deceased donor kidney
Waiting time	Set by the donor evaluation, often months	Set by the national list, often years (NHS average around 2–3 years in the UK)
Scheduling	Planned date, both operations same day	Unplanned; call can come at any hour
Organ condition at surgery	Very short time outside the body	Hours of cold storage; longer storage raises risk of delayed graft function
Immediate function	Usually starts working straight away	May be slow to start; temporary dialysis sometimes needed
Typical duration of function	Tends to be longer on average (NHS)	Tends to be shorter on average (NHS)
Transplant before dialysis	Often feasible	Possible but less common because of the wait
Risk to another person	Yes, the donor undergoes surgery	No living person exposed to surgical risk
Availability	Requires a willing, medically suitable donor	Available to anyone accepted onto the list

Two caveats matter. First, averages describe populations, not the person reading this. A well-matched deceased donor kidney in a healthy recipient can outperform a living donor kidney in someone with complicating conditions. Second, the comparison is not a contest. Many people who receive a deceased donor kidney do so because no living donor was available, not because they chose the slower route.

The honest framing is this: a living donor kidney is a valuable option when it exists, and a deceased donor kidney is a life-changing gift when it arrives. Both leave the recipient far better off than long-term dialysis for most candidates, which is why NIDDK describes transplant as the preferred treatment for kidney failure in people who are suitable for it.

Can a deceased donor kidney last 20 years?

Yes, it can, and some do. But the more useful question is what “lasting” depends on, because the number on a leaflet is an average built from thousands of very different people.

The NHS states that transplanted kidneys from deceased donors function for roughly 15 to 20 years on average, while those from living donors function for roughly 20 to 25 years on average. Those are medians across whole populations. Some kidneys stop working within a few years; others are still filtering well after three decades. No transplant team can promise where an individual will fall.

Several factors shift the odds. The age and health of the donor matter; kidneys from older donors or donors with high blood pressure or diabetes generally have less reserve. The length of time the kidney spent in cold storage before surgery matters, which is one reason living donor kidneys have an advantage. The recipient’s own health, particularly blood pressure, blood sugar and weight, plays a role. So does how consistently anti-rejection medicines are taken, since missed doses are a recognized cause of late rejection.

Chronic rejection is a slow, immune-driven scarring of the transplanted kidney that unfolds over years rather than days. It is the most common reason a kidney eventually fails, and it can be monitored through regular blood tests and, when needed, a biopsy, a procedure that removes a tiny sample of kidney tissue for examination under a microscope.

When a transplanted kidney does eventually fail, the person can usually return to dialysis and, if medically suitable, be considered for another transplant. Many people receive more than one kidney in a lifetime. That is worth knowing at the start, because it reframes the first transplant as a long chapter rather than a single verdict.

Who is usually offered each path, and who is usually asked to wait?

Transplant eligibility begins with the recipient, not the donor. Teams assess whether someone can safely undergo a major operation and tolerate lifelong immunosuppression. Active cancer, an uncontrolled infection, severe heart or lung disease, or an ongoing pattern of not being able to take medicines regularly can lead a team to defer listing until the issue is addressed. MedlinePlus lists these among the reasons a transplant may be delayed or not recommended.

Once someone is considered a candidate, the question becomes which route is realistic. A living donor path is offered when a suitable, willing donor exists. The donor must be an adult in good general health, with two normal kidneys, well-controlled blood pressure, no diabetes and no condition that would make surgery unusually risky. Potential donors are also asked to wait or are declined when tests reveal early kidney disease, uncontrolled blood pressure, significant obesity, active cancer or a psychological reason that raises concern about coercion or long-term wellbeing. Being declined as a donor is often protective for the donor, not a judgment.

The deceased donor path is open to anyone accepted onto the list. People who commonly rely on it include those without a compatible donor, those whose willing donors did not pass evaluation, and those with very high antibody levels who need a particularly rare match.

Some people are placed on the list while a living donor is still being evaluated, so that time is not lost if the donor turns out to be unsuitable. Others, especially those still in the later stages of chronic kidney disease, are referred early so that a living donor transplant can be planned before dialysis becomes necessary.

The recurring theme is that the team decides who is ready, and readiness can change. A person deferred this year for a treatable problem may be listed next year.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of donating a kidney?

Donation is one of the few surgeries performed on a healthy person for someone else’s benefit, so the risks of donating a kidney deserve a plainly worded account.

The benefits are mostly for the recipient: a shorter wait, a planned operation, a kidney that is typically healthier at the moment of transplant and, on average, a longer period of function. For the donor, the benefit is emotional and relational. Many describe the experience as profoundly meaningful. That is real, but it is not a medical benefit and teams do not present it as one.

The drawbacks fall into short and long term. In the short term, donation involves general anesthesia and abdominal surgery. Mayo Clinic lists pain, infection, bleeding, blood clots, hernia and the general risks of anesthesia among the possible complications. Recovery takes weeks, during which lifting and strenuous work are restricted.

In the long term, the remaining kidney grows and takes on extra work, and most donors retain enough filtering capacity for a normal life. The NHS advises donors that they may face a slightly higher risk of high blood pressure and a small increased risk of kidney failure later in life compared with people who kept both kidneys, and that the overall risk remains low. A small proportion of donors report ongoing pain at the incision site or lasting fatigue. Pregnancy after donation is possible but carries a somewhat higher chance of high blood pressure disorders, which is why women considering future pregnancies are counseled specifically.

Practical drawbacks matter too: time off work, travel to appointments, and the emotional weight if the transplanted kidney does not do well. Independent donor advocates exist precisely so that these concerns can be raised without pressure from the recipient’s side of the family.

Nobody should feel obliged to donate. The right answer for one family may be a firm and respected no.

What happens in life after donating a kidney?

Most donors want to know one thing: will I be different afterward? For the large majority, daily life returns to what it was, with a few durable adjustments.

The immediate weeks involve healing. Mayo Clinic notes that donors typically spend a short period in hospital after laparoscopic surgery and are asked to avoid heavy lifting for several weeks while the abdominal wall recovers. Tiredness is common early on and usually fades. Desk work often resumes within a few weeks; physically demanding jobs take longer, and the surgical team gives individual guidance.

Then comes the long tail of follow-up. Donors are asked to have blood pressure, kidney function and urine protein checked at regular intervals, often yearly for life. This is not because trouble is expected; it is because early detection of high blood pressure or protein in the urine allows treatment long before it threatens the remaining kidney.

Several habits protect that kidney. Keeping blood pressure in the healthy range, staying at a healthy weight, not smoking, drinking enough fluid and managing blood sugar if diabetes ever develops all reduce strain on the organ. Contact sports are usually permitted, though some teams suggest protective equipment for activities with a high risk of direct blows to the flank.

What medications should a kidney donor avoid? The most common advice concerns non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a class of pain relievers that reduce blood flow within the kidney and can impair its function, particularly with regular use or during dehydration. Donors are generally asked to check with their clinician before using them and to mention their donor status to any prescriber, pharmacist or radiology department, since certain contrast dyes and other drugs are also handled by the kidney. These are conversations to have with the treating team rather than decisions to make alone.

Emotionally, most donors do well. A minority experience low mood or a sense of anticlimax, especially if the recipient has complications. Programs offer psychological support for this, and using it is a sign of good self-care, not weakness.

Preemptive kidney transplant: what if you could skip dialysis altogether?

A preemptive kidney transplant is one performed before a person ever starts dialysis. It is one of the clearest practical advantages of the living donor route, because the operation can be timed to the recipient’s kidney decline rather than to a phone call.

Dialysis is a treatment that filters the blood artificially, either through a machine connected to the bloodstream (hemodialysis) or through fluid cycled into the abdominal cavity (peritoneal dialysis). It sustains life, but it does not replicate everything a kidney does, and years on dialysis are associated with strain on the heart and blood vessels. NIDDK describes preemptive transplantation as an option for people whose kidney function is declining toward failure but who have not yet needed dialysis, and notes that it is more often achievable with a living donor.

Timing is delicate. Transplanting too early exposes someone to surgery and immunosuppression while their own kidneys still have useful function. Transplanting too late means dialysis has already begun. Nephrologists watch the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a calculated measure of how much blood the kidneys filter each minute, alongside symptoms and blood chemistry, and refer to a transplant team as function approaches the threshold at which dialysis would otherwise be planned.

Preemptive transplants with a deceased donor kidney do happen, since people can join the waiting list before dialysis in many systems, but the unpredictable wait makes them less common.

For families weighing a living donor, this is often the argument that tips the decision: not that the kidney will necessarily last longer, but that the recipient may never need to arrange life around a dialysis schedule. Whether that is achievable in any given case is for the nephrology and transplant teams to judge together.

What do the first days and weeks after a kidney transplant look like?

The recipient wakes with a new scar low on one side of the abdomen, a urinary catheter, intravenous lines and, for the first time in a while, a lot of interest in how much urine is in the bag.

A living donor kidney usually starts producing urine on the operating table. A deceased donor kidney may take days to a couple of weeks to wake up fully; the NHS explains that dialysis can be continued during this period without it meaning the transplant has failed. Blood tests are taken daily to track creatinine, a waste product whose falling level signals that the kidney is clearing the blood.

Hospital stays for recipients commonly run about a week, according to NHS guidance, longer if the kidney is slow to function or complications arise. Pain is managed by the surgical team; walking begins within a day or two to reduce the risk of clots and chest infection.

The weeks after discharge are dense with appointments. The NHS describes frequent clinic visits and blood tests at first, gradually spacing out as results stabilize. Anti-rejection medicine levels are measured and adjusted by the transplant team, since too little invites rejection and too much raises infection and toxicity risks.

Physically, the abdominal wound needs about six weeks to regain strength before heavy lifting, driving usually waits until the person can perform an emergency stop comfortably, and return to work is typically a matter of weeks to a few months depending on the job. Fatigue, mood swings and disturbed sleep are common early side effects of steroid-containing regimens and usually ease as doses are reduced by the team.

Infection prevention becomes a daily habit: hand hygiene, food safety, avoiding people with obvious illness, and prompt reporting of fever. Vaccination plans are reviewed by the team, because live vaccines are generally not given after transplant.

Anti-rejection medicines: what they do and why they matter for both paths

Whichever route the kidney arrives by, the recipient’s immune system sees it as foreign. Anti-rejection medicines, collectively called immunosuppressants, dampen that response for as long as the kidney functions. They are prescribed, adjusted and monitored by the transplant team, and no change should ever be made without that team.

Most regimens combine drugs from more than one class so that each can be used at lower intensity. Calcineurin inhibitors, such as tacrolimus, block a signaling pathway inside T cells that would otherwise trigger an attack on the transplant. Antiproliferative agents, such as mycophenolate, slow the multiplication of immune cells. Corticosteroids reduce inflammation broadly and are often tapered over the first months. Some people receive an antibody-based induction treatment around the time of surgery to suppress the immune system more strongly during the highest-risk period, as Mayo Clinic describes.

The trade-off is real. Suppressing immunity increases susceptibility to infection, including viruses that healthy people clear without noticing, and raises the long-term risk of certain cancers, especially skin cancer. Some agents can raise blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol, or, in the case of calcineurin inhibitors, be toxic to the very kidney they protect if levels drift too high. Regular blood monitoring exists to keep the balance.

Timing consistency matters more than most people expect. Levels in the blood need to stay within a target window, and irregular timing is a recognized contributor to rejection. Practical tools such as alarms and pill organizers are encouraged by teams, and anyone struggling with the routine is urged to say so early rather than skip doses quietly.

Interactions are another reason to keep the team informed: grapefruit and several common medicines, including some antibiotics and antifungals, can change immunosuppressant levels. Pharmacists attached to transplant units are a resource for exactly these questions.

What people often get wrong about living donor vs deceased donor kidneys

Myths gather around transplants because the stakes are high and the science moves faster than folklore. A few deserve direct correction.

“A living donor has to be a blood relative.” Not anymore. Spouses, friends and unrelated volunteers donate routinely, and kidney paired donation allows incompatible pairs to swap. Relatives may offer closer tissue matches, but modern immunosuppression has narrowed the gap considerably, as Mayo Clinic notes.

“A deceased donor kidney is a second-best organ.” It is a different organ with a different history, not an inferior one. Many deceased donor kidneys come from young, healthy people and function for decades. Averages favor living donation, but averages do not describe any single kidney.

“If the new kidney doesn’t work right away, the transplant has failed.” Delayed graft function is common with deceased donor kidneys, especially after circulatory death, and the NHS explains that temporary dialysis while the kidney recovers is expected in a proportion of cases.

“Donating a kidney shortens your life.” Long-term studies summarized by NIDDK and the NHS show that most donors live full, normal lives with one kidney. There are small long-term risks, discussed above, and they are disclosed precisely so that consent is informed rather than fearful.

“The old kidneys are removed.” Usually they are not. The new kidney is placed in the lower abdomen and the failing ones are left in place unless they cause problems.

“Once transplanted, you’re done with kidney disease.” A transplant is a treatment, not a reset. It requires lifelong medicine, monitoring and attention to blood pressure and infection. Most recipients describe this as a far lighter burden than dialysis, but it is a burden nonetheless.

Correcting these ideas early helps families make a calmer decision.

Questions to ask your care team before choosing a path

Transplant appointments move quickly and cover a great deal. A written list helps. These are the questions coordinators say they wish more families asked.

• Am I currently a suitable transplant candidate, and if not, what would need to change?
• Can I be listed for a deceased donor kidney while a potential living donor is evaluated?
• What is the typical waiting time for someone with my blood group and antibody profile in this region?
• Is a preemptive transplant realistic given my current kidney function?
• If my willing donor is incompatible, does the program participate in kidney paired donation or offer other options?
• What is the evaluation process for donors, how long does it take, and who is their independent advocate?
• What long-term follow-up will my donor receive, and who is responsible for it?
• How would I know if the kidney is slow to start, and what happens then?
• What anti-rejection regimen is typical here, what are its main side effects, and how is it monitored?
• What symptoms should prompt me to call the unit immediately after surgery?
• How does the team support people who struggle with medication routines or with mood after transplant?
• If the kidney eventually fails, what are my options for a second transplant?

Bring someone with you to these conversations if you can. Recipients and potential donors are often given separate appointments, deliberately, so that each can ask honest questions without the other in the room. Take the offer. A donor who feels free to say no is also a donor whose yes can be trusted, and a recipient who understands the deceased donor route fully is better prepared if the living donor path closes.

Write down the answers, including the ranges the team gives you, so that later comparisons are grounded in what you were actually told rather than what memory reconstructs.

When to call your doctor: red-flag signs for recipients and donors

Both recipients and donors leave hospital with contact numbers for the transplant unit. Those numbers exist to be used, and units would rather hear about a false alarm than miss a real one.

For transplant recipients, the NHS and MedlinePlus advise contacting the team the same day, or seeking emergency care, for any of the following:

• Fever, chills or flu-like symptoms, since infection can progress quickly under immunosuppression
• Pain, swelling or tenderness over the transplanted kidney
• A noticeable drop in urine output, or urine that is bloody or cloudy
• Sudden weight gain or swelling of the legs, ankles or face
• Redness, discharge or opening of the surgical wound
• Vomiting or diarrhea that prevents keeping medicines down, because missed immunosuppressant doses raise rejection risk
• Shortness of breath, chest pain, or a painful swollen calf, which may signal a blood clot
• Any new medicine, supplement or herbal product prescribed or suggested by someone outside the transplant team, before taking it

For living donors in the weeks after surgery, seek care promptly for fever, worsening rather than improving abdominal pain, a wound that becomes red or leaks, difficulty passing urine, persistent vomiting, or calf pain and breathlessness. In the longer term, donors should tell their regular clinician about new high blood pressure, swelling, or foamy urine, which can indicate protein leakage.

Call emergency services for chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, confusion, fainting or heavy bleeding. Do not wait to see whether it passes.

Rejection episodes often produce few or no symptoms early on, which is why routine blood tests are not optional. Keeping every scheduled appointment is, in practical terms, the most reliable red-flag detector a recipient has. When in doubt, the rule from every transplant unit is the same: call.

Frequently asked questions

What happens in life after donating a kidney?

Most donors return to their usual work, exercise and family life within weeks, with lifelong yearly checks of blood pressure, kidney function and urine protein. The remaining kidney enlarges and takes on extra filtering work. Donors are advised to protect it by controlling blood pressure, avoiding smoking and checking with a clinician before using anti-inflammatory pain relievers, and to mention their donor status to any prescriber.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of donating a kidney?

The main benefits go to the recipient: a shorter wait, a scheduled operation and a kidney that tends to function immediately and longer on average. Drawbacks for the donor include surgical risks such as pain, infection, bleeding and clots, several weeks of recovery, and small long-term increases in the risk of high blood pressure and kidney failure, which NHS guidance describes as low but real.

Can a deceased donor kidney last 20 years?

Yes, many do. The NHS reports an average of roughly 15 to 20 years for deceased donor kidneys, meaning a substantial share function longer than that. Donor age and health, cold storage time, the recipient’s blood pressure and blood sugar, and consistent anti-rejection medicine use all influence how long a particular kidney lasts. When a kidney eventually fails, a second transplant is often possible.

What medications should a kidney donor avoid?

The class most often flagged is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which reduce blood flow inside the kidney and can impair function, especially with regular use or during dehydration. Donors are also asked to inform clinicians before receiving contrast dyes or any medicine cleared by the kidney. Decisions about specific medicines rest with the donor’s treating clinician, who knows their current kidney function.

How long is the kidney transplant waiting list for a deceased donor kidney?

It varies by country, region, blood group and antibody levels. The NHS gives a UK average of around 2 to 3 years, and Mayo Clinic describes waits of several years as common in the United States. People with blood group O or high antibody levels usually wait longer. These are population ranges, and the transplant team can give a more personal estimate.

Does the donor have to be a blood relative or the same blood group?

No. Partners, friends and unrelated volunteers donate routinely, and closer tissue matching is helpful rather than essential with modern immunosuppression. Blood group compatibility is normally required, but kidney paired donation allows an incompatible donor and recipient to swap with another pair, and some programs perform transplants across blood groups after antibody-reducing treatment when the team judges it appropriate.

What is a preemptive kidney transplant and who can have one?

A preemptive transplant is performed before dialysis ever begins, timed to the point at which kidney function would otherwise require it. NIDDK notes it is most often achievable with a living donor because the operation can be scheduled. People with a suitable donor and declining but not yet failed kidney function may be candidates; the nephrology and transplant teams decide timing together.

What are the risks of donating a kidney in the long term?

NHS and NIDDK guidance describes a slightly increased risk of high blood pressure and a small increased risk of kidney failure later in life compared with people who kept both kidneys, alongside a somewhat higher chance of blood pressure disorders in future pregnancies. Most donors live normal, healthy lives. Lifelong monitoring exists so that any change is caught and treated early.

What happens if a deceased donor kidney does not work right away?

This is called delayed graft function and is fairly common, especially with kidneys donated after circulatory death. The NHS explains that dialysis can continue for days or a few weeks while the kidney recovers, and this does not mean the transplant has failed. The team monitors blood tests daily and may perform a biopsy if function is slow to return.

Can I be on the waiting list while a living donor is being evaluated?

In most transplant systems, yes, and teams often encourage it so that no time is lost if the potential donor turns out to be unsuitable. The evaluation can take several months, and a person’s place on the deceased donor list continues to accrue during that period. Ask the transplant coordinator how listing and living donor assessment run in parallel locally.

References

• NHS: Kidney transplant
• NHS: Kidney transplant, what happens
• NIH NIDDK: Kidney transplant
• MedlinePlus: Kidney transplant

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.