Frequently asked questions about organ donation

After your death you can donate these organs: heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas and small intestine. In the Donor Register you can indicate yourself which organs you do or do not want to donate. During your life you can donate one of your two kidneys and give up a piece of your liver to help someone else.

Not everyone can donate organs after death. A doctor assesses upon someone's death whether the organs are suitable for donation. That depends, for example, on the age and health of the person who wants to donate. Also, an organ donor must always die in the hospital while on ventilation. Whether someone can donate can only be determined after death.

Yes, even if you live an unhealthy lifestyle you can sometimes still donate organs. If a donor organ does not arrive in time for someone on the waiting list, that patient dies. In that case, for example, a smoker's lungs can still be better than their own diseased lungs. And the liver of someone who drank alcohol can sometimes still help a liver patient. A doctor investigates in advance whether the organs and tissues are still suitable for transplantation.

Yes! A doctor always does everything possible to save the patient's life. They never let anyone die to keep someone else alive. Only when someone can truly no longer recover and death is expected, does the doctor discuss organ donation with the next of kin. In the Netherlands, the doctor who determines death is not involved at all in a possible transplant.

Yes, you can be an organ and tissue donor if you have an illness. Your illness can affect which organs and tissues you can donate. A doctor always investigates what is possible.

For example, cancer can be an obstacle to donation, but that is not always the case. That depends on how and when someone dies. Medications, chemotherapy, and the type of cancer also influence whether someone can be a donor.

You can record your choice in the Donor Register; upon death, a doctor will then investigate what is possible.

Age is generally not very important for donation. What matters is whether your organ or tissue is still good. Before donation, a doctor will always examine whether the organs and tissues are still healthy enough.

Not everyone who is registered in the Donor Register with consent for donation actually becomes a donor. The chance that someone can donate after death is actually not that large. There is only a 1 in 200 chance that someone registered with consent in the Donor Register will become an organ donor after death. The fact that organ donation does not happen often has various causes. An organ donor must always die in a hospital's intensive care unit (IC) and be kept on a ventilator by a machine. And the organs must still be suitable for transplantation.

Everyone can submit a choice in the Donor Register, even if you have an illness, for example, or live an unhealthy lifestyle. Whether someone can donate organs and tissues depends on many different things. For example, your health, age, and how someone died. Therefore, doctors can only determine whether you are suitable at the time of death.

Yes, that is possible. Everyone can fill in a choice in the Donor registry. Your sexual orientation makes no difference. Whether someone can donate organs can only be determined after death. It is then assessed whether the organs are suitable for transplantation.

Yes. Organs and tissues are only removed when doctors are 100% sure that someone has died. The determination of death is made according to strict rules and by multiple doctors. Read more here about how organ donation works or watch a video in which we explain how brain death works.

Organ donation is only possible if someone dies in the hospital's intensive care unit while on a ventilator. This is because the organs need oxygenated blood to remain suitable for transplantation. In the hospital, someone who has passed away can be ventilated by a machine. This ensures that enough oxygen-rich blood continues to flow to the organs.

In the case of donation after the heart and circulation have stopped (DCD donation), organ donation is only possible if the donor goes to the operating room immediately after death. If someone dies outside the hospital, this is not possible and the organs are no longer suitable for transplantation.

Yes, there is always time to say goodbye.Before and after the donor surgery, family and loved ones can be with the donor. After the donation procedure, the family decides for themselves what happens. For example, where someone is laid out and when the funeral takes place.