Opting out of organ donation

[ringme]

So the law has changed and this spring the NHS will consider you to be an organ donor automatically if you don’t opt out. I haven’t had a chance to really consider this all yet, WIBU to opt out at this stage until I have time to think about it or is that a selfish move given that 408 people died last year waiting for a donor?

What will you be doing?

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/helping-you-to-decide/about-organ-donation/faq/what-is-the-opt-out-system

@ifeelyoum
I Haven’t opted out.

Haven't RTWT but as someone who has had a family member (sister) on the donor list for a new heart and seeing the trauma shared by other families on the cardiac/respiratory wards in hospitals.. absolutely ABSOLUTELY take what you want after I'm gone. I won't need it but so many children and adults desperately do.

I agree with PP who said if you opt out then it should be on your medical notes that you don't receive a donor organ either.

Lol @MistyKoala

Alright mum!

I’ve already been told (as an ex-cancer patient) that I can’t donate blood and they don’t want any of my organs!

I’m guessing I don’t need to “opt out” (tho tbh I don’t care they can have what they want)

What a weird question.

Very intelligent response.

I deal closely with organ donation in my job, you should spend some time researching the position rather than making ill informed comments and statements.

but I'd want the donor to be a willing donor.

But they will be! The state won't own your body. Read the information - the families will still ultimately make the final decision, but hopefully once knowing what you'd have wanted to happen.

I really believe that anyone who is willing to accept a donated organ than they should be willing to donate their organs once dead too. Let's face it - you won't need them by then!

I have been on the organ donation list since being a teen over 30 years ago. DH, myself and teen dd have spoken and we all no one another's wishes - we are all happy to both donate and accept organs.

I will take the risk of what they use my organs for. I'd rather take the risk and someone's life is saved from the use of my lungs, heart, etc. than opt out 'on principle' and my organs go to waste and potentially someone misses out on a new go at life.

Organ donation should always be done on the basis of medical need. It shouldn’t be a quid pro quo.

In an ideal world, maybe so. But if there are multiple people in need and only one organ, a decision must be made. Putting donors at the top of the list to receive an organ could act as an incentive to opt in. And the more people that sign up, the more likely it is that lives will be saved.

There's no good reason to opt out. You could save someone's life, and you don't need your organ because you're dead. You don't need to think about it any further than that.

How can the organs be taken before you are dead unless it is in the case of a living kidney donor or the life support still kept on after brain death ?

But if there are multiple people in need and only one organ, a decision must be made.

The person with the greatest medical need gets the organ. That’s the only thing that should matter.

It would be pointless to put “donors” at the top anyway because all you’d have to do to get around it is not opt out but tell your family you don’t want to be an organ donor.

constantlyseekinghappiness

The question was do I opt out of everything? What specific things are you asking about?

I'll be opting out for very good reasons.
Won't have a transplant either, for similar reasons

Here are some links with actual facts rather than the nonsense being spouted on here......

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/helping-you-to-decide/about-organ-donation/what-can-you-donate/

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/helping-you-to-decide/about-organ-donation/get-the-facts/

Finally, you can choose to donate some or all of your organs. Wombs & penises don’t even come into it 🙄

Thanks for the reminder OP

I’ll be opting out. No, I wouldn’t take an organ myself.

@DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult

So sorry to hear of your loss.

I am of the same opinion as you, including misgivings about the state's right to people's bodies.

I'll be opting out for very good reasons.

Like what?

The fact is that a huge number , probably most, of the people signed up to donate will die in circumstances that make donation of major internal organs practically impossible. Unless you die ( and not of active cancer, hepatitis, HIV or any other transmittable disease) in a hospital bed on life support then it is unlikely your organs will be useable.

Which rules out anyone dying at home, in a care home, in the street or at work of an accident, heart attack , massive embolism or stroke. Rules out anyone dying of massive blood loss or trauma at the scene of a RTA , or as a result of violence.

So the pool of potential donors has to be huge, in the hope that at least some of us die in a way that makes us viable donors. I hope I can donate, if not major organs then skin, corneas, heart valves or any other bits that someone else can use, but I am realistic about it. It probably won't happen.

I am of the same opinion as you, including misgivings about the state's right to people's bodies.

The state don’t have a right to your body under the system. The family still have to consent. It is only intended to make it easier for people to say yes, knowing you didn’t object enough to opt out.

To all those who are opting out, are you considering how your decision effects your loved ones.

I, and the rest of my wife's family, found comfort in the fact that she helped people after she died

It can work both ways. A friend was traumatised by the experience of donating her husband's organs. His death was traumatic enough especially as he was a young man who'd married only a year before, but having to prolong saying goodbye and the thought of the organs being removed from him while he was still living still haunts her. It was far from comforting for her.

I am on the register but I can see her point and I think I'd struggle with that myself when deciding to allow a family member's organs to be donated.

but everyone wails about lives that could be saved

Lives are saved though. we had an extra 20 years with my Nana because of organ donation. She got see her grandchildren get married. These are real peoples lives.
Opting out is the one of the most selfish actions you can do.

@SunshineCake

The patient is dead but their heart and lungs are kept working artificially by machines so blood and oxygen is still pumped to the organs. If this wasn’t done the organs would become irreversibly damaged and therefore unsuitable for donation.

The thing is if someone doesn't want to donate, they don't have to have a valid reason or justify why.

Does anyone know what happens if more donation options are added to the list as science progresses? Will anyone on the register be notified so they can make an informed decision as to whether they want to donate? I've already opted out of tissue but there are certain other organs I wouldn't wish to donate

My year 6 class researched organ donation after reading Malorie Blackman's "Pig heart boy". We looked at the shocking rates and debated this very issue. Someone visited the school who was a donor recipient, along with someone who had a partner who had donated. We held a debate about it. Every single child said they would donate and it was 87% in favour of an opt out system.

They can have whatever is worthwhile from me. Who could honestly deny it's not needed?

I won't be opting out. They can have whatever bits they want when I am gone but you are welcome to not donate anything, it's a choice.