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Choosing to donate a kidney is a generous decision, and Temple Health is here to guide you through it. A living donor gives one healthy kidney to someone in need, whether a family member, a friend, or a stranger. Living donation can help a recipient receive a transplant within months instead of waiting years, with a kidney that often begins working right away. Throughout the process, your health and safety come first. Our team handles a confidential evaluation, answers your questions, and supports you before and after donation. Learn whether living donation is right for you.
Choosing to donate a kidney is a generous decision, and Temple Health is here to guide you through it. A living donor gives one healthy kidney to someone in need, whether a family member, a friend, or a stranger. Living donation can help a recipient receive a transplant within months instead of waiting years, with a kidney that often begins working right away. Throughout the process, your health and safety come first. Our team handles a confidential evaluation, answers your questions, and supports you before and after donation. Learn whether living donation is right for you.
Healthy adults in generally good health can be considered, and you don’t have to be a blood relative of the person you’re hoping to help. It starts with a confidential evaluation by a team whose only job is looking out for you, separate from the team caring for the person receiving the kidney. That evaluation checks your kidney function, overall health, and medical history to make sure donating is safe for you, both now and long term. Certain conditions can rule donation out, which is exactly what the evaluation is there to find. And the decision is always yours: donation is voluntary at every step, and you can change your mind at any time, for any reason. If you’re thinking about donating, the first step is simply to reach out and start the conversation.
Sometimes a person is healthy and willing to donate but isn’t a match for their intended recipient. Paired kidney exchange is what makes donation possible anyway. It works by matching two or more donor-recipient pairs with each other: your kidney goes to a compatible recipient in another pair, and that pair’s donor gives to your intended recipient. So if you’ve been told you’re not a match for your loved one, it doesn’t mean the end of the road. Our team can explain how paired exchange works and whether it’s an option for your situation.
Your Health and Safety Come First
Living donation starts with you. Every potential donor gets a confidential evaluation by a team whose only job is protecting your health, separate from the recipient’s care team. If donation isn’t safe for you, we’ll tell you, and the decision to donate is always yours.
An Experienced Living-Donor Program
Temple’s transplant team has guided living donors through the process for more than 20 years. We handle the medical workup, explain what surgery and recovery involve, and if you’re not a match for your intended recipient, paired kidney exchange may still make your gift possible.
Support Before, During, and After Donation
From your first questions through surgery and long-term follow-up, our team supports you at every step. You’ll have a dedicated point of contact, clear answers about time away from work and recovery, and care that continues after donation.
Expect more from your transplant care. Call 800-TEMPLE-MED or request an appointment online.