Houston Methodist J.C. Walter Jr. Transplant Center

According to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), if you have a medical condition that may cause one or more of your vital organs to fail, transplant may be a treatment option. A transplant is a surgical operation to give a functioning human organ to someone whose organ has stopped working or is close to failing. In some cases, a living person can donate all or part of a functioning organ. In other instances, the donor would be someone who has recently passed away.

The organs that can be transplanted are:

• Liver
• Kidney
• Pancreas
• Kidney-pancreas (can be transplanted at the same time)
• Heart
• Lung
• Heart-lung (can be transplanted at the same time)
• Intestine
• Vascularized composite allografts, or VCAs, such as face, hand or uterus transplantation
  
  

Tissues, such as eyes, skin, bone, heart valves and tendons, can also be transplanted.

A transplant program must evaluate anyone who may wish to have a transplant, and health care professionals there would make the final decision about whether to accept that person as a candidate. You are not automatically listed for a transplant just because you’ve had contact with a transplant program.

Each transplant program makes its own decision about whether to accept someone for a transplant. The transplant team at each program has its own standards for accepting candidates.

Each team may view the same facts and information in different ways and make different decisions about listing a person for a transplant. So, if one program is not willing to accept you as a candidate, a different program may accept you. Source: UNOS

According to UNOS, for most patients who need a transplant, the first step is to get on the national transplant waiting list. Most transplant candidates usually wait for some length of time because there are not enough organs for all who need them. To get on the national waitlist, follow these steps:

1. Receive a referral from your physician.
2. Contact a transplant hospital. Learn as much as possible about the 200+ transplant hospitals in the United States and choose one based on your needs, including insurance accepted, location, financial options and support group availability.
3. Schedule an appointment for evaluation to determine if you are a good candidate for transplant.
4. During the evaluation, ask questions to learn as much as possible about that hospital and its transplant team.

The hospital’s transplant team will decide whether you are a good candidate for transplant. Each hospital has its own criteria for accepting candidates for transplant. If the hospital’s transplant team determines that you are a good candidate for transplant, they will add you to the national waiting list. Your transplant hospital will notify you within 10 days to inform you about your date of listing.

According to UNOS, many people often think that the national organ transplant waitlist is a static list, like a grocery store checkout line. However, the waitlist is a dynamic, ever-changing pool of information. Where a patient may appear at any point depends on a number of variables about the organs available and about other people in similar need of a transplant. We run these donor and organ characteristics against the list of patients waiting for a transplant who match key factors for that specific organ. Since there is a shortage of organs suitable for donation as compared to the number of those waiting for a transplant, at UNOS we generate a new list for every available organ in order to make the best match for a successful transplant.

You will want to stay in close communication with your transplant hospital on your transplant status.

Learn more facts about the waitlist and what to expect when waiting for a transplant on Transplant Living.

With living donation, a living person donates an organ or part of an organ for transplantation. Most living donors donate one of their kidneys or a part of their liver. Much more rarely, living donors may donate other organs. Living organ donors make thousands of transplants possible every year.

Relatives, loved ones, friends and even individuals who wish to remain anonymous often serve as living donors to spare a patient a long and uncertain wait. In 2023, more than 6,900 transplants were made possible by living donors.

If you are considering living donation, it is critical to gather as much information as you can from various sources. Source: UNOS

Almost any adult can be considered for living donation, provided he or she is in good health. While most are direct donors giving to a family member, loved one or acquaintance, some people become altruistic, or good Samaritan, donors by giving a kidney to anyone on the waiting list who is a match. 

At Houston Methodist, living donors are as much our patients as those in need of transplant. Our goal is to ensure our living donors’ health, safety and interests at all times. All potential living donors at Houston Methodist undergo extensive education and medical and psychological evaluations before being approved. All living donors are assigned an independent living donor advocate, who prioritizes the donor’s needs and interests. 

Visit the UNOS patient website, Transplant Living, to learn more about living donation.

If you would like to register to be a living donor at Houston Methodist’s Transplant Center, or learn more about living donation, visit our Living Donor Center. 

The United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) recommends these general steps on how to get started on becoming a living donor:

1. Contact a transplant hospital
   If you know a person you would like to help through living directed donation, talk to him or her and contact the transplant program where the person is listed. If you would like to be a living non-directed donor, contact a transplant hospital of your choice to find out if they have this type of donation program. Visit the OPTN Member Directory for a complete list of transplant hospitals. When you contact transplant hospital staff, they will typically ask for your consent to begin a basic medical screening. With your consent, the transplant hospital staff will ask you questions about your medical history to find out if you have any conditions that would keep you from being a donor.
2. Have an initial screening
   This initial screening is typically followed by a blood test to see if you are compatible with the intended transplant candidate. If you are not compatible with that person, you may have other options to donate. These options include paired exchange, blood type incompatible donation or positive crossmatch donation.
3. Get an independent donor advocate
   Transplant hospitals are required to provide an independent donor advocate (IDA) or IDA team for all potential donors. Your IDA should not be part of the potential transplant recipient’s medical team. The IDA will assist you during the donation process.

According to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), the transplant recipient’s insurance will cover your medical expenses as a donor, such as the evaluation, surgery, and limited follow-up tests and medical appointments. However, the recipient’s insurance may or may not cover follow-up services for you if medical problems occur from the donation. Your own insurance may not cover these expenses either.

An organ donor chain begins when a donor without a specific recipient donates an organ to a transplant recipient. The recipient's donor then donates to another recipient, and so on and so on.

Each organ is carefully preserved using special solutions, packed on ice and for some organs — currently lungs and kidney — put on machines for safe transportation.

Unlike deceased donors, in a living organ donation, the donor decides who will receive their organ by either directing it to a specific person (a “directed donation”) or choosing to donate anonymously to someone on the transplant waiting list through a “non-directed donation” process; however, the final decision is always made in consultation with the transplant team to ensure compatibility and medical suitability.

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