Living Kidney Donation

We’ll perform a series of screenings and evaluations to determine if you’re a candidate for kidney donation, including:

1. An online screening questionnaire to determine if you’re eligible. This requires your weight and height. If you’re an acceptable donor, we’ll contact you to schedule a donor evaluation. 
2. A two-day donor evaluation, including a medical exam, psychosocial consultation, chest X-ray, EKG (heart test), routine blood and urine tests, and blood compatibility testing. If you live out of state, a local recognized transplant center may complete your workup.
3. A complete blood compatibility workup to determine your ABO blood typing and crossmatch testing. Additionally, we’ll perform genetic testing.

Following the tests, we'll let you know if you're a suitable living donor. If you qualify as a donor to your recipient, we'll schedule a final CT scan and set the transplant date. If you're incompatible with the recipient, we can add you to the Kidney Paired Donation (KPD) program. This program allows you to donate to someone else, while your recipient gets a kidney from another donor.

The recipient's health insurance covers all medical expenses, including the workup and surgery. Potential donors should consider additional costs they may be responsible for, such as travel expenses and lost wages if sick time, vacation time or short-term disability aren’t available.

Living donors typically spend two to three days recovering in the hospital. Most people can return to their normal activities within four to six weeks.

There’s little risk to the donor outside the standard risk and pain associated with any surgery.

If you want to donate a kidney but aren’t a match for your intended recipient, you can join the Kidney Paired Donation Program. Created by a former Sutter kidney transplant patient, this program uses a computer to match donors and recipients based on various factors. It allows you to donate to someone else while ensuring your loved one receives a life-saving kidney from another donor. CPMC is home to the most extensive kidney-paired donation program on the West Coast and has been performing kidney-paired donor transplants since 2003.