I’ve had an organ donor card in my wallet for as long as I can remember and I’ve always made it very clear to my loved ones that I want all my organs to be used when I die.

My question is, given that I only need one kidney, would it be better if I were to donate the other one right away rather than after my inevitable demise?

Obviously, my organs won’t be used in the unlikely event that I die in some unrecoverable way, like being lost at sea or something. And there’s always the possibility that a close relative might need a kidney at some point, so I should arguably save it for them.

Is there some other reason to do it now?

  • Mnemnosyne
    31·
    1 year ago

    But as OP points out, someone will get that kidney eventually anyway. So the difference is that a different someone else gets to continue existing.

    • KerfuffleEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      But as OP points out, someone will get that kidney eventually anyway.

      OP erroneously thought that but it’s not actually correct. The conditions where someone dies but their kidney is viable for a transplant are rare.