Everything you need to know about organ donation

Give someone a second chance

Everything you need to know about organ donation. Image: iStock

Everything you need to know about becoming an organ donor, including who can donate, how to join the register, what you can donate, and why you need to speak to your family about your decision.

Life throws us curveballs. While we can hope and pray that everything will be okay, we know that sooner or later, we’ll be dealt with harsh blows and tough times. One of them, of course, is death. 

While we don’t like to think of what will happen when our loved ones – or we – pass away, the harsh reality is that at one point or another, we will all experience death. But despite being the one certainty of life, it’s still really, really hard to get comfortable with our mortality. 

But in the tough times, there’s some light. While we don’t want to prep for the worst, doing so might be lifesaving… in the most literal sense. Yep, organ donation is that grim, yet essential topic all of us need to be having. A simple conversation with your family and friends could save the life of someone else. No biggie. 

Ahead, everything you need to know about organ donation, including what it is, how you can become an organ donor, what you can donate, and the importance of having these essential conversations with your family.

What is organ donation?

In simplest terms, organ donation is when a failing organ is replaced by a healthy one from someone else who doesn’t need it. 

Usually, people who are organ donors are those who have recently passed away, but there are some cases where you can donate an organ to someone while you’re still alive, which is sometimes the case for kidney and partial liver transplants. Often, the people receiving the organs are those who are very ill and going through organ failure. 

For someone who’s seriously sick, an organ transplant can mean life or death. However, other organ and tissue transplants can also be utilised to give people a better quality of life, such as eye transplants restoring or maintaining people’s vision. 

Organ donations and transplants save people’s lives, but due to the very specific conditions that need to be met to transplant, many sick people don’t receive organs in time. According to the Australian Donation and Transplantation Activity Report, in 2023, 1,800 people were on the waitlist for a transplant in Australia. 14,000 additional people were on dialysis and could benefit from a kidney transplant. 

Yet, only 513 people ended up becoming organ donors last year. 

It might be time to change that. 

What You Need To Know About Organ Donation. Image: iStock

How do you become an organ donor?

Did you know that just one organ donor can go on to save the lives of up to 7 people, as well as help many others thanks to eye and tissue donation? Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?!

To become an organ donor, you can register in less than a minute over on the Australian Organ Donor Register. You must be aged 16 and over. 

We’ve steadily seen an uptick in the number of people signing up to be organ donors, however, there’s always a need for more donors with many donor transplant hopefuls being placed on waitlists.

While it would be nice to know that our organs go on to people in need in the event of our deaths, the sad part is that very few people actually have their organs go on to outlive them. Only 2 per cent of people who die in Australian hospitals meet the criteria for organ donation. This is because a person must die in a hospital or under very specific circumstances for organs to function well enough for transplantation. So much so, that out of 191,000 Australians who died in 2023, only 513 of them ended up becoming donors. 

Because there’s such a small amount of potential donors, it makes it even more important to sign up or have conversations with loved ones, so if you’re being called to save someone else’s life – you don’t need to hang up on them. 

Who can be an organ donor?

The only real requirement to be an organ donor is that you’re over the age of 16. Other than that, it doesn’t matter how old you are, how healthy you are, or if you’re a smoker – you’re still eligible.

While only 2 per cent of Australians die in a way that makes it possible for them to donate their organs, there’s something very comforting in being able to say that if the worst happens, you might be able to help another human out. 

For someone who’s seriously sick, an organ transplant can mean life or death. Image: iStock

What will and won’t be donated?

There are a bunch of organs that can be donated and transplanted after your death, including:

• Kidneys
• Livers
• Pancreas
• Hearts
• Lungs
• Intestines 

Additionally, eye and tissue donors are also in need. Tissues that can be transplanted include heart valves and tissues; bone, tendons, and ligaments; skin; pancreas islets; and parts of the eye, like the cornea and sclera. 

When you sign up to be a donor, you can decide to donate specific organs and tissues, or simply opt in for all of them. 

Why is it so important to speak with your family about organ donation?

Ultimately, your family has the final say when it comes to giving approval for the donation of your organs. 

If you pass away in circumstances that might lend itself to transplantation, your family will often be asked whether you want to pass your healthy parts onto someone else. But in 2023, only 55 per cent of families consented to donating the organs of their deceased loved ones. 

A big reason for this drop in success rate is that many people aren’t officially registered to donate, which muddies the water when it comes to the family’s decision-making. But Donate Life says that when someone is a registered donor, the likelihood of their family agreeing to donate their organs boosts up to an 80 per cent success rate. 

Even word of mouth is good, with consent given in 6/10 of cases when the family knew their loved one wanted to be a donor, despite not being officially registered.

However, consent dropped significantly when family members were unaware of their loved one's wishes, with only 4/10 of families agreeing to donate. 

This makes it even more important to have open, honest, and candid conversations with your family and friends about their desire to be organ donors if the worst-case scenario comes around. That conversation might make the difference between life and death for another person. 

Originally published as Everything you need to know about organ donation