Are you registered to donate your organs? Why or why not?

I am - in the UK - and I think that it should be opt out rather than opt in.

Just so everyone knows, you can't really transplant dead organs (at least not as safely or with the success of live organs).

They can only use your organs if you die in a hospital setting. They will keep pumping blood to your organs after you die to keep them "fresh" and "alive."

Post-death organ transfer exists but is way more risky than an organ that was recently in a living, functioning body.

So if you've ever considered it, keep in mind that you have to die at a hospital for it to happen, and even then, they're still technically forcing your body to be alive to keep these organs alive.

Source: Friend who lost his leg to amputation during a COVID-coma. They didn't think he would make it. He woke up in the donor ward. EDIT: Just to be clear, this happened during peak COVID before the vaccines when bodies were just piling up everywhere. I don't think a coma patient waking up in the donor ward is a normal thing, I think it happened because COVID was a fucked up situation and people were overwhelmed.

Judging by this comment thread I'm not the only one who's like "you can have them, but I don't know if you're going to want them"

Healthcare in the US is run for profit. From 2020 estimates, they charge $1.6 million for a heart transplant. $1.3 million to transplant a pair of lungs, $880 thousand for a liver, and $440 thousand for a kidney. This is what for profit hospitals charge patients while giving your next of kin nothing for the organs that made it possible.

They don't pay you for your organs. They will still bill your estate for any care other than the organ removal despite your generosity.

I would happily be an organ donor in a country with a non-profit healthcare system. But because of how heathcare is run in this country, I would rather my organs be left to rot.

Thankfully it's opt-out in Slovakia, so yes.

I'll be dead. Do whatever with my body. Take the organs, fuck it, feed it to animals, compost it, use it as shooting target, turn me into soap, I won't care. I literally won't be able to care. Why even decline?

No.

My mom got double brain aneurism. Had her head cut open to put clamps on the leaking arteries.

Slipped into a coma, few days later doctor came in to convince us for prepping her for organ donor, dad said it was too early.

Another few days later doctors came in being really rude that all she was good for was organ donor. Had a heated conversation with my dad who got tired and said "fck off doctors".

Few days later she woke up. After revalidation she has a healthy life, this was 37yrs ago, she still lives, she is 71.

My dad told my awake mum and since I was underaged opted me out for organ donor. Needles to say, I am reluctant to opt myself back in.

Optional read: aftermath of the aneurism is that the part of the brain to process visual data was damaged. Other parts of her brain took that role but is not as effective. Her depth perception any further that 10m is gone. She has no vertical peripheral processing, so she has to tilt her head up or down to recognize what she noticed i' her peripheral, one cannot imagine this seeing something but unable to recognize until you point your head at it :) in the end, very good outcome.

I like the system in Singapore. Organ donation is mandatory, though you can complete a form to opt out. If you're on the opt-out register, you have a lower priority to receive organ transplants. Fair is fair.

I've been registered for a while now. I really don't see a good reason not to, they only take 'em if I'm dead and what good are they to me then? Better going to someone in need.

Yes I am registered, because I ride motorcycles and I won't need my organs if I'm dead.

Throwing this post out there for a bit of visibility and discussion.

For me, I just registered 5 minutes ago. Idgaf what they use my body for, as long as someone learns something it's a net positive at no expense to me.

Yep. Pessimistic about anything still being useful at this point, but hoping I am wrong.

Yes I am. As for why, my organs will save peoples lives,

I was already a donor before my sister died but it really solidified my stance when she saved three people's lives with her kidneys and liver. They needed it more than the crematorium needed them.

Here in Belgium everyone is a donor unless you register that you don't want to donate your organs.

No, I'm one of those weird people that because my family moved to the UK when I was little in the late 80s for work for a year I'm under risk of mad cow disease and none of us can donate blood or organs. Learned that the sad way when trying to give blood in college, like half a dozen random things that can disqualify you that you might not realize.

Yes, definitely.

I received a live donor kidney transplant over a decade ago, and because of that, my quality of life drastically improved, and I lived long enough to meet my kid and my nieces and nephews.

I've got complex medical issues, so my organs might not be any good, but they're going to be available when I'm gone.

Yes. Probably been registered for more than 10 years now. I’m in Sweden and it was a super easy online form to fill in.

When I die there’s probably someone else who needs my organs more than me.

As a very strong believer in Danny DeVito's quote, "When I'm dead, just throw me in the trash!", if any medical party is even remotely interested in dumpster diving for my parts when I'm done with them, they can have 'em. Better than throwing them in a box and taking up land in a cemetary. The less of my remains uselessly taking up space on this planet after death, the better. If I get my way upon my demise, anything they don't take is going into the incinerator anyway.

In Austria you have to register to NOT be an organ donor. So we have about 99% donors (after brain death). I am a donor too, as I neither care about my body once I am dead nor bother to register for anything.

No, both to receive and give organs. I'm just not comfortable with the idea.

My spouse and I are registered to donate our bodies to a medical college. If we can advance medicine in even a small way, it is still a move to better life and health.

Yes, I don't see why not. What else am I gonna do with my organs when I'm dead?

Up until now here in Germany we had a "system" that was a paper(!) card you put in your wallet if you were ok with donating your organs. That's obvioisly not an ideal system and Germany has far to few donors. We now moved to an online system and being Germany it's (as far as I've heard, I haven't tried it yet - which might be a sign that this is not going to be a great solution) is super complicated and convoluted. So basically even worse than the piece of paper in your wallet (seems impossible but for Germany business as usual when it comes to anything digital).

Personally this would be one of the very few things were I would be ok with something being opt-out instead of opt-in but I don't see that happening.

I'm set to donate my body to science. Maybe I even get to be a skeleton in a class room or sum 💀

No. Religious reasons

Yes, it just feels like the right thing to do. Why let them go to waste if they can help someone else live.

Yeah, why not? Wtf am I going to do with them when I'm dead?

I’m not. I’m aware of how selfish it is but something in my system of belief that I have (undefined? spiritual? no idea?) says that when I’m dead, I should be ALL dead.

Like, if there’s any kind of afterlife, will leaving a functioning part me behind hold up the transition? This even sounds fucked up to me because I’m 100% not religious at all.

I would just prefer all of me to be dead or all of me to be alive. Not fractions of both at the same time.

Yes because why not. I doubt they will be of much use, but feel free to harvest anything you want. It would be the most useful I've been in my existence.

No need to register in Brazil, you just have to tell your family members, as they're asked whether or not they're ok with your organs being donated. I've already told my family to, once I die, donate all of my organs that might still be in good shape

I'm registered to donate, they won't take them unless I get an expensive genetic test. My brother just passed away, and they wouldn't let him donate anything because we had an aunt a couple of generations ago who had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (a prion disease that causes dementia)

I am and I hope to have everything unsalvageable cremated

Yes I am.

When I die, my organs are no longer of any use to me, but could improve someone else's life. I'm not sentimental about my corpse. I'll donate anything that's still useful. I don't even mind if medical students use my bones to play pranks on each other. Heck, I think I'd prefer that.

the best thing i could ever do at the last moment of my life is help someone else get a second chance

Yeah but I wasn't for a long time. There was a spiderman cartoon where mary jane was targeted for murder because her name was in a database of organ donors and the villain needed her organs for his wife or something. scared the shit out of me when I was a kid and I had a knee jerk reaction when filling out the form I never really thought about. someone had to directly ask me before I realized I had based this decision on a cartoon I saw when I was 5.

Yes. I'd like to donate my body to science too, but I want to see if there's a way to do it non-profit. I'm not interested in helping make someone rich.

I think I'm ineligible. I think my sibling tried to register but was they were told they were ineligible because we lived in Europe in the 80's

I am not registered, but I have a organ donor card (where I approve organ donations).

Background:

Germany just recently (18th of March this year) launched an online database where you can register your preference. Until then there was only a small organ donor card that you could fill out and carry with you.

Reason I haven't registered there yet is that I first need to unlock the online function on my passport (nowadays always enabled, but I still have one from when it was optional). So I'll eventually get around to doing both.

As for my reasoning behind being a donor:

• I would like to receive them in an emergency (or for someone I care about to do so).

• And in case I become a donor I am not there anymore to care about what people do with my organs.

Yep. Although I'm pretty sure no one would want them.

Yes because hopefully someone better than me will get them and make a real difference in the world.

No.

1. It's opt-in in my country.
2. I fear that medical personnel will give up on me way too easily and early if they know that I am a donor. Or that it's even rooted in malicious intent.

No. There are too many people on this planet.

Only because there's no box on the license application that says "donate body to be chummed and thrown on rich people".

But for real if my vacated body can save someone else's life or make it better by all means get that shit.

I am. Because why not?

Yes, though my lifestyle may mean some are no good.

Yep. I'll be dead anyway, so I have no use for them anymore. If it can save someone's life then imo it'd be a bit selfish not to. I was already registered when it was still opt-in, but now it's become opt-out here in the Netherlands so even better. It'll make sure that a lot of people who don't care either way will now save life's that we otherwise wouldn't.

Yes, because I'd want others to be if I needed it.

I am, but I probably shouldn't be. My organs are...not in the best shape.

Due to my own medical reasons, I'm not.

By default in our country. You have to unregister if you don't want it.

I am not. HOWEVER, it is simply because my spouse will be the one to make the decision. Not that I don't trust doctors, but it's a decision my spouse and I talked about.

No.

The topic came up among a table of paramedics and other first responders I was drinking with one night. Went down to the dmv and had the mark taken off my id the Monday after.

Not sure if I'm completely registered, but any time I've been asked I check Yes, and I have it checked on my health card.

Like you said: "why not?" Not like I'll be using them any more at that point.

I'm volunteer to donate because of I accidentally die, rather that it deserve someone who would have more luck than me rather than no one.

Now in Belgium it works a bit differently. Everyone is, by default, considered as a donor.

You can then register to either refuse it or to impose it whatever your family says.

This is because the law is that the doctors must always ask the family if they are ok to give organs from diseased family member even with the "by default donor", with the registration you can say "don't ask my family and just do it".

This can be used in two situation in my opinion, the first one being family that have different conviction and may refuse despite the opinion of the diseased. The second situation (mine) being not wanting to worry grieving family with one more difficult decision to take.

Yes. And I volunteer plasma every 2 weeks. Up to 25 donations in a weeks time.

Organ donation is the last honorable / good thing you can do for the world after you've left. You'll be forgotten soon after dying, so might as well make it worth something

Yes however, I'm torn between either donating my organs or donating my body to science.

My thinking is I could maybe help save a couple of lives if my organs are in a decent enough state, although with my life style they probably wont be, or maybe my body could be used as a cadaver to train new doctors possibly saving a lot more lives.

Even if its not used for training doctors my thinking is that even a small amount learnt from the use of my body has got to help somewhere.

Please don't bury me down in the cold cold ground

In all seriousness I'd rather they cut me up and pass me all around.

My ID says I am, but I'm not registered anywhere else. Why did I have my ID say it? Because I felt like it that day when I renewed it. That's literally all there was to it.

Real talk though, I almost don't think I should be donating my organs. Why should the hospital get for free what they're going to charge a family hundreds of thousands of dollars for?

no, I will when I'm 18 tho

like others have said, I'm dead, idgaf

Yes, because I won't need my organs when I'm dead.

Yes. My state makes it really easy, just check a box when renewing your ID or driver's license. I can only hope if I lost my life I could give a new lease on life to someone else.

Yes, but I've since been diagnosed with leukemia.... Hopefully that doesn't mean my spare parts are trash but I suspect that's the case.

Yeah dude, if I have anything they can use. It's not like I'll be using them anymore, and I have a couple of friends who've gotten donor organs, so I've seen firsthand how it impacts people. I tried to be a kidney donor for another friend but it turns out I don't have enough extra function that they thought I could give one away. I'm fine, my kidneys are just not going above and beyond, I guess.

Reminds me of this gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp-pU8TFsg0

Back on topic. I believe this is opt-out in my country (if it didn't change recently), so unless you specifically state that you want all your organs inside to feed the worms or to get more ash for your urn, you're automatically possible donor.

EDIT: Just checked, it's still opt-out. It's opt-in only for minors and incapacitated - their parents/legal representative have to agree.

Yes, in the case of an untimely death i could really help people.

I remember a guy went around to all the different country subs and asked what they thought about an opt-out organ donor policy instead of an opt-in donor. The results were interesting (which you can probably guess).

Not in the US but yes.

Not yet. As soon as some people in my country get to know I am registered, I am dead meat - worth my weight in gold. It’s dangerous.

Yes. In fact, I just registered for this a few weeks ago.

Well, I can’t take them with me…

Yes. I can't think of a better use for them than saving a life (or hopefully lives) at the time when not only they're not going to be useful to me, but there will actually be no me to even be able to make use of them.

And I live a healthy life, so hopefully some of them might be useful whether I die of old age or any other cause (except falling into a meat grinder of course, then all this gym going and veg eating will be in vein).

Also, fingers crossed they'll find a dope body who's my HLA match and will need a brain transplant 🤞

No, because you have to be alive to get harvested. This very moment all of life is leading to I don't want to get pumped with all they got to keep me alive to harvest all they can. I prefer to just die when the time has come.

Yeah, I'm registered, just in case the agency in charge manages to not fuck up that day.

Yeah, but they aren’t going to like my liver.

I think so? I should check though.

Friends and family know to strip me down for parts as aggressively as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mET6fhKymR8

No. Ineligible.

Yes. I check the organ donor box when I renew my driver's license. If I'm in an accident then I don't need 'em anymore. Let someone else use 'em.