Frequently asked questions

Registering to become an organ, eye and tissue donor in the Ohio Donor Registry is simple. You may do so by saying “yes” when receiving your driver’s license or state ID, online, or by completing and returning an enrollment form. We also ask you share your donation decision with your family.

Yes! Any individual who is 15 1/2 years old or older and holds a valid Ohio driver’s license, learner’s permit or state ID card can authorize the donation of their organs, corneas and tissues by joining the Ohio Donor Registry at their local Bureau of Motor Vehicles office, by filling out and mailing in a registration form or online. Once an individual is in the Ohio Donor Registry, no one else has to provide authorization for the donation. However, for individuals 15 1/2 to 18 years old, their parents or legal guardians can revoke or amend their authorization for donation.

One person has the potential to save 8 lives and heal more than 75. Organs that can be donated include: kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine. Tissues that can be donated include: heart valves, corneas, skin, bone, ligaments, tendons, fascia and veins.

No! You are never too old to be an organ, eye or tissue donor – in fact, the oldest organ donor was 95 and the oldest tissue and cornea donor was 107! Your age or health should not prevent you from registering to be an organ, eye and tissue donor.

No! Organ donation does not discriminate against sexual orientation. Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can be an organ donor, both living and deceased.

Yes! Gender and race are not factors considered in the matching process.

Yes! Your life is always first. If you are taken to the hospital after an accident or injury, it is the hospital’s number one priority to save YOUR life. Your status as a donor is not even considered until every effort has been exhausted to save your life and death has been declared.

Yes! When you register as an organ, eye and tissue donor in the Ohio Donor Registry you are making a legal decision. If you are over the age of 18, your registration is legally binding and no one but you can change your decision to donate. While not all families agree about donation, it’s imperative to talk about your decision with your family.

Talking to your family about your decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor and educating them about the facts of donation and transplantation are important steps to ensure your family is comfortable with your decision.

No! The donor’s family neither pays for, nor receives payment, for organ, eye and tissue donation. Hospital expenses incurred before the donation of organs in attempts to save the donor’s life, as well as funeral expenses, remain the responsibility of the donor’s family. All costs related to donation are paid by the organ, eye and tissue recovery agencies or the transplant center. Again, there is no cost to your family.

No! If an open casket funeral was possible before donation taking place, it is possible after donation.

All major religions in the United States support organ, eye and tissue donation and consider it a generous last act of caring. Read your religion’s statement on donation.

No! Matching organs to recipients is based strictly on medical criteria and has nothing to do with notoriety or wealth. The process for matching a recipient with a donor is dependent upon how sick an individual is and who the best match for the organ is. Occasionally, it may seem that rich or famous individuals receive transplants more often, but that is simply because as a society we pay attention when these people receive transplants and not when people from the general public receive transplants.

No! The National Organ Transplant Act (Public Law 98-507) prohibits the sale of human organs. Violators are subject to fines and imprisonment.

Lifeline of Ohio facilitates deceased donation only, while the gift of whole body donation is facilitated through anatomical gift programs, medical school departments of anatomy, or schools of medicine.

Each whole body donation program has its own donation process and oftentimes, an individual must pre-arrange an agreement with the program for full body donation to take place. Each program has different requirements and criteria, including whether or not an individual can donate organs, tissues and/or corneas prior to their acceptance into the whole body donation program. Learn more about Whole Body Donation Programs.

Lifeline of Ohio only facilitates the gifts of deceased donation. While we are advocates for living donation, transplant centers are the places who facilitate living donation. In Central Ohio, please reach out to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

You can also read specifically about living kidney donation through OSU here.

We do share stories of living donors and their amazing gifts through our social media platforms. Follow us on all platforms!

Death occurs in two ways: 1) from cessation of circulatory (heart-lung) function; or 2) from the cessation of brain function (brain death). Brain death occurs when a person has an irreversible, catastrophic brain injury, which causes all brain activity to permanently stop. In such cases, the heart and lungs can continue to function if artificial-support machines are used. However, these functions will also cease when the machines are discontinued.

Brain death is an accepted medical, ethical and legal form of death. The standards for determining that someone is brain dead are strict. Only about one out of a hundred individuals in the United States will die through the process of brain death and have the potential for organ donation. Tissue donation can occur after either type of death, but organ donation can only occur after brain death.

Persons waiting for transplants are listed at the transplant center where they plan to have surgery, and are placed on a national computerized waiting list of potential transplant patients in the United States. Under contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) maintains the National Transplant Waiting List. UNOS operates the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and maintains a 24-hour telephone service to aid in matching donor organs with patients on the national waiting list and to coordinate the efforts with transplant centers.

When donor organs become available, several factors are taken into consideration in identifying the best-matched recipient(s). These include medical compatibility of the donor and potential recipient(s) on such characteristics as blood type, weight and age. Urgency of need, and length of time on the waiting list are also factors in the allocation process. In general, preference is given to recipients from the same geographic area as the donor because timing is a critical element in the organ procurement process.

We do not, please access Be The Match to learn about bone marrow donation.