Living Kidney Donation

Across the nation, more than 104,000 people are waiting for organs that will save their lives — with more than 90,000 of them waiting for a kidney. Living kidney donation works to close the gap between the need and availability of donor kidneys. Here to tell us more about living kidney donation is Dr. Rima Patel, a Froedtert & MCW transplant nephrologist and medical director of the Living Kidney Donor Program. 

What is the importance of living donation? 

Living donation saves lives, and it also helps to improve the quality of life for all of our recipients. They spend hours a week on dialysis, and it helps them to be able to spend that time in the way that they want to spend it and enjoy their lives. 

Who can be a living donor? 

Individuals who are over 18 years old and in good health can come in for evaluation, and we will kind of do a workup and make sure that you're healthy enough to proceed with donation. Do living donors need to be a direct match to their recipient? Living donors do not need to be a perfect match with their recipient. If they are not, they can proceed with a paired exchange program and still make sure that their recipient is able to get a kidney transplant. And even if you do not have a specified recipient, you can still come in and be evaluated for donation and donate altruistically. 

Why should someone choose the Froedtert & MCW Living Kidney Donor Program? 

We are a recognized leader in living kidney donation. We have been performing living donor kidney transplants for over 50 years, and we have done over a thousand living donor kidney transplants. We have an exceptional experienced team including a living donor coordinator who helps walk you through the whole process from evaluation to hospitalization to follow-up care.