Can I donate?

[Nora3le]

Hi everyone. My father started dialysis 2 weeks ago. He is on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. I still would like to ask whether I am able to donate my kidney to him. He says it wouldn't work because we share the same DNA.

[fredinspain]

A family relative is more likely to be a match but it's not a certainty

You would both need blood tests doing to see if they match and take it from there If it isn't that's the end of it but if it is then you need to talk to a kidney transplant specialist and gather as much information as you can

Remember even the most perfect match can fail and be rejected

Finally, as a father of a daughter, I wouldn't accept a donation from her and many father's will think like that

[TamekaS]

Lots of family donate to one another. The only that could stop is many factors like age, blood type, over weight, find any type of illness, antibodies too high, the many blood transfusions. any of these could actually be a factor, related or not and then some, but it never hurt to get treated cause even if it's not u personally, they have a program called "paired exchange"... Wish u all the best.

[KidneyCoach]

Yes, you could easily be considered as a living donor for your father. Most family members are a better match than others due to DNA similarities. Ask your father's transplant team about it. Even if you're not a match there are other things to help like sensitization therapy (IVIG), plasmapharesis and paired donor exchange where you would donate to someone else as a match and they would have someone donate to your father as a match. You'd have to go through all the basic testing i.e., bloodwork, chest x-ray, heart test, mammogram, Pap test, blood pressure. If you have any diseases or illnesses it could exclude you from donating. Wishing you all the very best. Blessings & Peace