Donating a kidney is a life-saving decision for someone in need of a transplant. Our expert team is here to assist you. Read more from our Director of Living Kidney Donation, Dr. Juan Palma. 

Donors are often a close relative such as a parent, sibling or child but may also be individuals who are not related but have an established emotional relationship with the recipient such as a partner or close friend. Learn more about being a living donor.

Sometimes a donor and a recipient may be incompatible with each other because of blood group or tissue-type and in this case it may be possible for them to be paired with another donor and recipient in the same situation. This means that each recipient will benefit from a transplant that they would otherwise not have had (this is called paired donation). Donors may also offer to give a kidney to someone who is on the waiting list for a transplant but whom they have never met before.