Organ donation, opt in, or opt out?

[misdee]

opt out.

yes GDG - where did you think I was?

If I've understood the document, relatives still have to consent regardless of whether the donor has opted in (misdee, does that sound right to you?). So I assume it covers both those who had opted in, and those who hadn't but who are in "suitable condition" to be potential donors.

Useless fact - Spain has more traffic accidents that UK which is one of the factors leading to an increased organ donor rate. But their refusal by relatives rate is under 20%.

Interesting thread. It's been on my mind as Dh has taken ds1 away for the weekend (what if they don't come back - you can tell that I'm in a positive frame of mind!). I'm definitely of the opinion that I would prefer them to be able to be donors (ie someone wins out of the situation), but like sparklymieow, no-one os touching mine or dh's eyes!

It's opt in for me. I just have a niggling unease about bodies belonging to the state. But family shouldn't be able to over-ride a person's decsion to donate. Driving licences come with forms for opting in - maybe donation forms chould also be issued with passports, TV licences, supermarket club cards and so on. There can't be many people without at least one of those.

that sounds about right ladymuck. if anyone is considered to be a potential donor, regardless of whether or not they are regisatered they will ask the family if they will consider it. which is a very hard thing to do, its times when the family are grieving and they are being asked to donate their organs, it muist be terrible. and i want to thank the 3 families who gave us 3 glimmers of hope earlier this year.

Apprently the new E111 cards will all have donor info sent with them.

I'd choose opt out without a doubt

opt out

I can see the benefits of opt out but I feel a little uncomfortable with it, it's like an assumption that once you're dead then the state owns your body parts.
If it were opt out I would like it extrememly simple to opt out. What would happen with children? would they automatically be on the register?

actually I think I'd choose opt in with maybe a bi-annual reminder (at doctor's surgery) and no right for next of kind to say No

i think with young children it should still be upto the parents, but if the child makes their feelings clear (there has been stories of 7yr olds wanting to be organ donors), then i would hope their parents would listen to their wishes.

I would think that for children it would be by parental consent, say up to the age of 16 or 18.

I don't have a problem with who my body belongs to when I'm dead.......after all, I'm dead.

I've received the new E111 cards but didn't notice anything about donation in them, I shall check

And who by the way are my next of kin I'm divorced,living with a partner, my parents are dead, I have three children and three siblings...is it my two children over 18 or my siblings or all of them? presumably not my dp

child over 18 I think in that case, unless you have legal documents with partner

no nothing about organ donation with my new E111 cards..

So if you do discuss organ donation then you have to make sure you discuss it with the relevant people if your partner is not next of kin...

Although i thought that if they were the arrangers of your funeral then they were next of kin?

Anyone can arrange the funeral lemonice - it doesn't have to be your 'next of kin'

I heard an interesting discussion on the radio last week and it was a registrar talking about registering a death and one of the questions concerning eligibility for registering the death if you are not next of kin (ie you are an unmarried partner of the deceased) is are you responsible for arranging the funeral? so i wondered if the same question would then allow you to express a wish concerning your partner's organs or in the case of my dp it would have to be his mother

They will usually only accept someone as the person arranging the funeral if there are no living relatives.

Potty that's the point I was trying to make, you can register the death of your partner although you aren't married and they have blood relatives if you answer yes to the question are you arranging the funeral.

Yes - you can, but the registrar (and the law) prefers the relative to register. It can be a relative by marriage (brother or sister in law for example).

At one of the last deaths I registered the informants were the deceased's unmarried partner (of 20 years) and his sister. It was the sister's name on the certificate not his partner's because registration law (at that time and I don't think it's changed) recognises the sister before the unmarried partner.

In that situation though, with regard to organ donation, I don't know whom the medical profession would regard as having the final say.

Opt in, with no relative veto.

why not have it as it is, but with no veto for those who've put themself on the list

That way all those people whove said theyd donate there organs will automatically have their organs used and those that havent the family can decide

Opt in, definitely. Don't think it is morally right otherwise.

Think about how devasted the Alder Hey parents were when they discovered their babies' organs had been taken without their knowledge or consent. Opt out, definitely.

Edam - are you in or out lol?

its on my drivers license in NZ that I am a donor

not one here in CH and just mentioned about organ donor on a thread the other day - did you see it misdee?!