Liver Organ Donation
There is an urgent need for organ donation in the United States, where almost 90,000 people are currently waiting for lifesaving organ transplants.
Because Children’s provides specialty care across a six-state region—Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Hawaii—we are uniquely positioned to search for viable organs in a wider geographic area than many other children’s hospitals.
Our physicians and surgeons are working to improve the situation for children who need transplants. They are actively involved with national United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) committees.
Livers for transplant can be obtained from either a deceased or living donor.
Deceased donors
Deceased donors are people whose organs have been made available for donation at their own request before death or by their families after death.
Learn more about organ allocation.
Living donors
A healthy, living person, usually a relative, can donate a portion of her liver. When surgeons remove a piece of the donor’s liver, the part that remains grows back quickly. The recipient’s new liver will also grow to a normal size.
We are now performing living donor liver transplants in appropriate cases. We are actively building the living donor component of our liver transplant program.
A living donor liver transplant can be scheduled, reducing the stress of waiting for a donor organ. And living donors help relieve the nation’s shortage of donated organs.
Requirements for living donors
We screen potential donors very carefully. We consider a range of physical, medical and psychosocial issues.
Relatives or friends who are considering a living donation are referred to University of Washington Medical Center for assessment.
There, the potential donor will undergo an evaluation of the liver to make sure it is healthy, and that the donor will remain healthy during and after the donation procedure.
Learn more about living donation.