Kidney Donors Face Difficulty

According to Laura Meckler in Why It’s Hard To Give Away A Kidney, Wall St. J., Dec. 26, 2007:

Each year, hundreds of people decide they want to donate a kidney, not because someone they know needs a transplant, but because they want to help and don’t care who benefits. But the desire to give can be hard to fulfill because many hospitals won’t accept altruistic donors, and there are few resources to help donors navigate their options.

The hospitals’ reluctance grows from concerns that these potential donors may be psychologically unstable, likely to change their minds and, perhaps, secretly paid for their kidneys. Given the risks of the surgery, which are small but real, some argue that it makes little sense for a stranger to donate a kidney.