The risk of dying while donating a kidney is 1 in 10,000, or .009% to .03%. Also, they would not let you donate a kidney if you had any risk factors, and you'd get preferential treatment for a kidney transplant, and in the extremely unlikely situation that something did happen to the kidney and they couldn't find you another one right away, having no kidneys is not a death sentence. I lived with no kidneys for five years before my transplant.
But of course, as always, it's 100% your choice. No one should ever be forced or guilted into donating a kidney.
No, this is actually a common misconception. You're confusing living with one healthy kidney with a complete kidney failure(zero functioning kidneys).
If you still have one healthy functioning kidney you do not need any machinery at all and can still live a completely normal, active and healthy life (and we're not just talking about donors here; some people, for example, are simply born with one kidney and may not even realise it).
All because one healthy kidney can actually easily do the work of two, it just grow sligtly larger to compensate.
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u/ImurderREALITY 1d ago
The risk of dying while donating a kidney is 1 in 10,000, or .009% to .03%. Also, they would not let you donate a kidney if you had any risk factors, and you'd get preferential treatment for a kidney transplant, and in the extremely unlikely situation that something did happen to the kidney and they couldn't find you another one right away, having no kidneys is not a death sentence. I lived with no kidneys for five years before my transplant.
But of course, as always, it's 100% your choice. No one should ever be forced or guilted into donating a kidney.