Are you a giving person and consider yourself someone with a big heart?
Perhaps you want to help with the gift of life by becoming an organ donor. According to Donate Life America, more than 5,600 people in the U.S. die annually while waiting for an organ transplant.
Interested in how you can help save a life? Can you still donate after death? Here’s what to know about becoming an organ donor:
Who can be an organ donor?
According to the Health Resources & Services Administration, anyone, regardless of age or medical history, can be a potential organ and tissue donor. The specific organs and tissues eligible for donation are determined by your medical condition at the time of death.
A national system is used to match donated organs with recipients on the transplant waiting list. Matches are based on factors such as blood type, body size, severity of illness, proximity to the donor, tissue type, and time spent on the waiting list. Non-medical factors like sexual orientation, race, income, social status or fame are never considered.
What organs can you donate?
According to the HRSA, some organs are eligible for donation while you’re alive, and some after death. One organ donor can save up to eight lives, and one tissue donor can help more than 75 people.
What organs can I donate while I’m alive?
What organs can be donated after death?
Is donor registration legally binding in Texas?
Yes. According to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, an individual’s decision to register as an organ donor is legally binding.
The UAGA is a U.S. law that provides a legal framework for organ, eye, and tissue donation. It was originally drafted in 1968 by the Uniform Law Commission to ensure consistency across states, and has since been revised in 1987 and 2006. All 50 states, D.C., and several U.S. territories have adopted some version of it.
The law says the following:
How to remove organ donor status from your Texas license
There are two ways to remove your name from the donor registration, depending on how you registered.
If you registered with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, you can do the following:
If you registered through the National Donate Life Registry, you can do the following:
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Can your family override your decision to be an organ donor in Texas? What the law says
Reporting by Marley Malenfant, Austin American-Statesman / Austin American-Statesman
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
