Organ Donation: Part 1

I have a colleague who is looking to do one of the most humanitarian acts I can believe possible. She has wanted for years, and has recently decided, to donate one of her kidney's to a person who might need it. This boggles my mind.

I know that in countries such as India, Bulgaria, and Brazil, people donate their kidneys for thousands of dollars as a way to find money to support their families, to find extra money, and to work themselves out of debt. I have met one person in my life who has donated a kidney to a young relative who struggled for life, but in the end, died. It was a heart-wrenching story.

I was thrown back into some thinking I have done in years past about organ donation when my colleague announced this to me recently. At the age of sixteen, I was asked when I received my drivers license, if I wanted to be an organ donar. I immediately had to make a choice. My father being a physicians assistant at a Children's Hospital, I thought of the children that he did not know by face, but by byopsy tissue. I thought of the young lives that could be saved by an organ donation. I said yes.

Upone renewing my license, at the age of 18, I found myself bombarded with the same question. I two years time, I changed my mind. I remembered being etremely self conscious after replying "No" to the question of organ donation. I wondered if the woman behind the counter would think me heartless, selfish, or inconsiderate. I drove home that day in angst. "Why had I decided not to donate my organs?" I wondered to myself about this for weeks. The question haunted me.

After deep thinking and challenging insights, I decided that I would not change my mind at the time, and see how I felt about it when I was older.

I'd like to share some of the thoughts that went through my mind then, and that have resurfaced in recent dialogues with co-workers, friends and with my partner.

But before I share, I would like any reader to ask themselves what their reasons may or may not be for choosing to be an organ donar...or for choosing not to be one.

It's a question that, I beleive no one should take lightly.

(to be continued)