To wonder how many of you not on the organ donor register

[Normalisavariantofcrazy]

Would be happy to accept an organ on behalf of yourself or a relative?

If you are, excluding health reasons, why are you not on the organ donor register? Is it just a case of not getting round to it, if so

register here

Right now, though, it's not a "right" you have at all. In the event of your death your next of kin gets to decide what happens to your organs and there are no measures that you can take, extraordinary or otherwise, to opt out of their decision

Which is why I suggested removing the ability of the next-of-kin to override, as this fits more appropriately with my feelings.

I don't think relatives should be allowed to overrule someone's decision about their body.

One of my good friends would be dead today if someone hadn't donated him their liver (he had liver cancer). I'm forever grateful that her family allowed him to live.

What's the deal with eyes?

My dh and my family all know each other's wishes regarding donating (we all would) so as far as I'm concerned, that's what will happen if the situation arose.
Do we still need to be on the donor register?
I think I am but as I know it's basically down to next of kin, is there really much point? I always thought talking with NOK and establishing wishes was the better option.

I'm not on the donation list because having researched into organ donation I realised that for most organ donations you need to be alive, albeit in a vegetative state, to donate them.
That concerns me because often doctors get things wrong and ppl who were said to be brain dead have recovered.
The history of organ donation concern me greatly and look to be very unscientific.

It should be an opt out system. If you chose to opt out, then you shouldn't be able to receive an organ.

But you'd accept one wouldn't you heather.

I'm on it and will give anything. Also donate blood and on marrow list.

I am not on the donor register because I choose not to be. I have donated blood and am giving serious consideration to marrow donation.
I like to think that I would not accept an organ, I have never been in that position so do not truly know how I would react.
My dh is on the register and my 13yr has also told us he would like to be. He has made an informed choice and I would respect their wishes as I hope they will mine.
I object to the opt out system because it assumes that my body belongs to the state other than my loved ones. I also believe that it would be easy for a doctor to presume consent if there was a need. Sometimes decisions have to be made quickly.

Let me just throw this out there:
I have a family member with special needs who is unable to make decision in an informed way, if she was to become seriousl ill and a rich patient needed a new lung, would she be given the opportunity to recover?

I have a family member with special needs who is unable to make decision in an informed way, if she was to become seriousl ill and a rich patient needed a new lung, would she be given the opportunity to recover?

Yes. We don't live in a dystopian novel.

newsflash folks - it is not tempting fate to consider this because we are all going to die. If it is medically possible for you to donate your organs, you should if you would want a donation if needed.

if you are happy not to receive a donated organ, fine - this may of course cause your premature death.

littledrummergirl yes, of course your relative would be given the opportunity to recover. Assuming you are in 2014. If you are a time-traveller posting from the era of Burke and Hare, maybe not.

Isn't part of the problem the fact that you need to be kept artificially alive in order for your organs to be useable? So you have to be in a tragic accident and certified brain dead. I think that's why it is SO hard for next of kin to make that decision. If you die in the normal sense I don't think organs can be used so having a donor card is irrelevant.

I may be talking crap though.

I'm on the register as is DH, and I have made it known often that any part of me that can be used is to be used.

Even if your kidneys/liver/heart/lungs can't be used, then corneas (not your whole eye), skin and bone can be used from a lot more people.

Heather - its not just being brain dead, its being brain stem dead which is NOT the same as being in a vegetative state.

I'd love to donate blood, and be an organ donor, but medical history means I am not allowed. :(

I want to sign up as a donor but I haven't signed up yet for two reasons:

My family do not want me to be a donor and I think that at a time when they would be grieving it would be unfair to pile on even further distress by having my organs removed. I personally don't see what use my organs are in my body once I am dead, but my nearest and dearest don't share my view.

My other reason is that I would not want my organs to be given to somebody who has inflicted illness on themselves and ruined their own organs; through smoking, alcohol or drug abuse etc.
If there was a section on the donor register where it could be specified that my organs were not to be used for people with self inflicted ailments then I might be more inclined to sign up ( despite my family's wishes).

I am. Being fundamentally lazy I might not be were it not now an option via the Boots points cards. They can solve as donor cards now.

So when I die, people will benefit.

I do baulk at face and limb transplants though and would have opted out of that had they been on the form.

I honestly don't think I would accept someone else's face or left forearm ever, but I do think I would gratefully accept other organs so should be willing to give myself.

My other reason is that I would not want my organs to be given to somebody who has inflicted illness on themselves and ruined their own organs; through smoking, alcohol or drug abuse etc

So because you think that someone who genuinely deserves one could go without. What a crap excuse

impatient

"Self inflicted" covers so many things that it is unlikely to be an option, ever. Personally I think that's a good thing. It isn't for the donor to sit in moral judgement of any potential donee.

Really heather? I was under the impression that most organ donations are from things like car accidents where the organs are healthy but the person is pronounced dead, and they either remove the organ immediately and chill it to preserve it, or they artificially pump oxygenated blood around the body to keep the organ alive until it can be harvested. So technically the donor is dead dead, not just in a vegetative state. Of course, I could have got that completely wrong!

And I honestly didn't know that NOK could override a person's wishes. If it were down to you (generic 'you' here) and only you to make the choice, and you knew the person didn't want to donate, would you follow their wishes or allow their organs to be donated? I think I would allow them, after all they're not going to know!

Personally I'd take the chance of a drug addict or whatever because there's every chance also that it would go to a father of Four or a teen wanting to go to university.

Too many people are going off what they see on Casualty or Grey's Anatomy

Well if they changed the donor forms so that I can opt out of the possibility that mr alcoholic who has already had one donor liver and continued to drink a now needs another one will benefit from mine then it wouldn't be a problem.

MaidofStars "I say "no" to an opt-out system though. For me, the right of bodily autonomy should be granted automatically, not something that one should have to take extraordinary measures to exercise."

This.

Well considering those at the too of the list are dying without wee receiving an organ, and there are strict criteria as to what qualifies you for a transplant I very much doubt it would be going to some alcoholic.

And if it did, well then they have followed the advice and rules given and jumped through hoops and ergo have earnt themselves the chance to have one.

And besides it's not your choice or my choice, it goes by need decided by those qualified to decide

impatient I think things like that are dealt with by an ethics committee before they are even put on the recipient list. If someone has already gone through one donor liver and now needs another they will either be deemed unsuitable for transplant, or will be so low down on the list that they would only get your liver if it were completely unsuitable for anyone else (in which case I figure it may as well go to somebody, anybody, than nobody). So I don't think you need to worry about that possibility.

Strange typos sorry