Tissue donation
Tissue donation: what is it and how does it work? And what is the difference between organs and tissues? Get answers to your questions about tissue donation here.
Difference between organs and tissues
Organ donation is better known than tissue donation. And yet tissue transplants improve the lives of thousands of people every year. For example, people can see again thanks to a donor cornea. Or have less pain and scarring after burns thanks to donor skin. Sufficient donor tissue is needed for tissue transplants.
What is tissue donation?
In tissue donation, a deceased person donates tissue. This tissue ends up in a tissue bank. Doctors use these tissues to help patients. This can improve their quality of life.
You can fill in whether or not you want to become a tissue donor after your death in the Donor Register. You can do this at the same time as choosing whether or not you want to donate organs.
You can donate these tissues:
- Eye tissue
- Skin
- Bone tissue
- Cartilage
- Tendon tissue
- Heart valves
How does tissue donation work?
When someone is a tissue donor, a special retrieval team comes to the funeral home or hospital after death to retrieve the tissues. They do this with great care and do not remove anything from places that are visible during the viewing. Afterwards, the tissues are examined. If they are healthy enough for transplantation, they go to a special storage facility. We call this a tissue bank. From there, the tissue goes to a patient who is helped by it.
Milou has a donor meniscus
Milou suffered a serious knee injury at age 17. After a few surgeries and a long rehabilitation without results, a solution came along: a donor meniscus. She had no idea this existed. Thanks to that donor tissue, she can now do much more again.
Read her story
Frequently asked questions
If I donate my skin, can someone walk around with my tattoo later?
No, that is not possible. Only unprocessed skin is used for transplantation. If you have a tattoo, they will leave it on. However, it is possible that cuts are made through the tattoos, for example with bone donation, and that the tattoos are damaged as a result. Perhaps you or your loved ones do not want that. Then discuss your wishes with them. You can exclude skin from donation.
Do my family have to pay anything if I donate tissues?
Surviving relatives do not pay extra costs for tissue donation. The family may receive a bill for normal costs surrounding the death of a loved one who is a donor. This concerns the amount that the family would also have to pay if the deceased had not donated tissues.
Does my body look neat for my family and loved ones after donation?
Yes, the retrieval team takes care of that.Read more here about what can be seen of the tissue donation.