May 06, 2026
The demand for kidney transplant continues to be incredibly high. There are close to 100,000 people in the U.S. on the kidney transplant waiting list, but the number of deceased donors cannot match the need.
That's why living kidney donors are so important. Patients who receive a kidney from a living donor experience many benefits, including a shorter waiting time, no need for dialysis if it has not been started, better survival rates and the opportunity for a planned surgery instead of emergency surgery.
For these reasons, consider speaking to your patients — those in need of a kidney and those who may be eligible donors — about living-donor kidney transplant.
What is living-donor kidney transplant?
Living-donor kidney transplant is when a living person donates a kidney to a patient with advanced kidney disease. A living donor may or may not know the recipient. The donor may be a friend, a family member, an acquaintance or someone the patient does not know, called a nondirected donor.
When a person decides to donate a kidney, the person's health is assessed. The evaluation examines blood and tissue type, along with other factors, to determine whether the person is a good match for the recipient. If a recipient and a donor are a good match, the surgeries are scheduled. If they are not a good match but are otherwise healthy and able to donate, healthcare professionals will recommend a kidney transplant through paired exchange.
What is paired-kidney donation?
Living-donor paired-kidney donation, also called paired exchange, is a method in which donor-recipient pairs are matched with other pairs. This process allows for the exchange of kidneys so that each recipient receives a living-donor kidney transplant. Paired exchange can be a helpful tool for both compatible and incompatible donor-recipient pairs. If a patient has a donor and the kidney is not compatible, they can participate in a paired exchange program to receive a living donor kidney from a compatible donor. This allows a donor to give a kidney to a recipient who matches, while the intended recipient receives a kidney from another compatible living donor. In this process, the donor not only helps the original recipient but also helps another person waiting for a match. This is a great option for a donor who wants to help a specific person, such as a family member, but is not a good match. Many compatible donor-recipient pairs are now also using paired exchange to optimize timing of surgery, logistics and caregiver options.
Benefits of living-donor kidney transplant
Compared with deceased-donor kidney transplant, living-donor kidney transplant offers benefits such as patients being able to receive a kidney transplant sooner and undergo planned surgery instead of emergency surgery.
A living kidney donor also can make preemptive kidney transplant possible for a patient. Preemptive kidney transplant is when patients receive a kidney before starting dialysis. This is associated with positive health outcomes, including a better quality of life, better transplant outcomes and lower treatment costs.
Considerations for potential donors
Potential donors may want to know that living kidney donation:
- Saves lives.
- Has few long-term risks for people who are healthy.
- Is possible because we only need one kidney to live a healthy life.
- Leads to better matches for recipients by facilitating more matching opportunities.
- Donation surgery is minimally invasive, which allows for a fast recovery.
- Many transplant programs offer one-day donor evaluations to help with convenience.
To be a good donor match, you:
- Do not need to be related to or know the recipient.
- Do not need to be the same race or gender as the recipient.
- Need to be over 18 years old, and there is no age cutoff.
Mayo Clinic has one of the largest living-donor kidney transplant programs in the U.S.
For more information
Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network.
Living-donor transplantation. Mayo Clinic.
Refer a patient to Mayo Clinic.