Becoming a live organ donor
Organ donation and becoming a donor
To donate an organ:
- you do not have to be a New Zealand citizen
- you may be able make a donation if you live overseas.
There is assistance for eligible donors including:
- financial assistance for travel and accommodation
- compensation for loss of earnings after surgery.
Your district hospital donor liaison coordinator supports you through the whole donation process.
Who you can donate to
You can donate a kidney to a member of your whānau, a friend or a person you do not know.
Directed donation
Directed donation is when you donate to someone you know, like a whānau member or a friend. It is called this because you 'direct' that your kidney goes to a particular person.
Altruistic or non-directed donation
Altruistic or non-directed donation is when you donate to someone you do not know. In this case, you cannot say who receives your kidney. The kidney will be given to the next best-matched patient on the kidney organ waiting list.
Directed live liver donation
Directed live liver donation usually involves a parent donating part of their liver to their tamaiti (child). Live liver donation is much less common than live kidney donation because of the higher risk of complications to the donor.
For this reason, non-directed live liver donation is not supported in Aotearoa New Zealand.