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So somebody mentioned living kidney donation.

Maybe you read a story, or a friend brought it up. Here is the plain version of what it is — with nothing asked of you.

What living donation actually is

Most people are born with two kidneys and can live a full, healthy life with one. A living donor gives one of theirs to someone whose kidneys have failed — usually replacing years of dialysis with a scheduled operation and a working kidney. Donors are volunteers. They are never paid, and the whole process is built around making sure they are choosing freely, with a medical team whose only job is looking after them.

A donor

Someone whose kidneys have failed

  • The kidney that stays grows a little and takes on more of the work.
  • The new kidney sits low in the belly.
  • Their own kidneys usually stay.
The donor keeps one kidney. Most healthy people live a full life with one.A simplified drawing. Details differ from person to person. Source: NIDDK — Kidney Transplant, reviewed January 2018.Source: NIDDK — Your Kidneys & How They Work, reviewed June 2018.

Most people are born with two kidneys.

A donor gives one of theirs.

The kidney that stays grows a little and takes on more of the work.

The new kidney sits low in the belly. Their own kidneys usually stay.

Why do kidneys fail in the first place?

What actually happens, step by step

The single most common reason people never look into this is that they do not know what they would be signing up for. Here is the whole shape of it.

  • You raise your hand
  • The center gets in touch
  • Testing, in stages
  • You decide, repeatedly
  • Back to everyday life
You can step off at any point, for any reason.Source: OPTN (HRSA) — Living Donation FAQs, reviewed February 2026.

You raise your hand

You fill in a form — My Kidney Story's, which asks for your name and a way to reach you, or the transplant center's own, depending on the page you start from. Nothing is committed, nothing about you is made public, and your name is not given to the person you might donate to, or to your employer.

The center gets in touch

A person at My Kidney Story gets back to you and helps you reach a transplant center's living-donor team — or, if you started on the center's own form, its living donation coordinator contacts you directly. Either way, your next steps are with the center, not the person you might donate to.

Testing, in stages

Blood typing first, then tissue matching, then a wider health workup. Most people learn at one of these stages that they are not a match, and that is a completely ordinary outcome.

You decide, repeatedly

You can stop at any point, for any reason, without explaining yourself. Transplant centers are required to give you an independent donor advocate whose only job is your interests.

The things people get wrong

“It will cost me money”

The recipient's health insurance covers the donor's evaluation, surgery, hospital stay and follow-up. Programs like NLDAC reimburse travel, lodging, dependent care and lost wages for donors who need it.

National Kidney Foundation

“I have to be related to them”

You do not. More and more living donors have no family tie to the person at all — spouses, friends, colleagues, and people who read a story about a stranger and decided to find out.

UNOS

“It only helps one person”

If you are not a good fit for the person you came for, paired exchange can still get them a kidney: you give to someone else, and another donor gives to them.

UNOS

Each donor is willing, but not a good fit for the person they came for.

1 in 4living kidney donors give through an exchangeSource: OPTN/SRTR Annual Data Report, 2024 data, published 2026.

Hear it from someone who has done it

Reading about donation is one thing. Asking a real donor what the surgery felt like, or what they told their family, is another. Our mentors are volunteers who have been exactly where you are standing.

What it cost meThe surgery and recoveryTime off workHow I am years laterTelling my familyPaired exchangeHow I asked peopleBeing on the list
Talk to someone who has done this

Further reading

A few accounts of people who told their own story publicly and found out who was listening.

  • Patients share their stories in hope of finding living donors

    Reporting on people doing exactly what My Kidney Story is built for — telling their story publicly and waiting to see who answers.

    Read at TribLive

  • Susan, living kidney donor

    One donor's account of the decision, the screening process, and what came after, in her own words.

    Read at Donate Life America

  • What's behind the rise in living donation?

    Living donation grew again in 2025. UNOS looks at what is driving it and what still holds people back.

    Read at UNOS

Still wondering about something?

Ask in your own words. The assistant only draws on the sourced material this guide is built from — and for lived experience, the mentors are real people.

Ask the guide anything

This assistant shares general information about living donation — it is not medical advice, it cannot tell you whether you could donate (only a transplant team can), and this conversation is not saved.

Still reading? The next page is for when you start weighing it up properly — money, risk, work, and what it would take from your life.

2. I'm seriously thinking about it

My Kidney Story does not collect, store, or evaluate medical information, and nothing on this page is medical advice. Donor eligibility is determined solely by a transplant center after its own independent evaluation.