Promoting living organ donation. The lived experience of five kidney donors.

Most campaigns carried out with the aim of increasing the number of organ donors encourage deceased organ donation. It is not common that living organ donation is actively promoted through campaigns.  The reason for this is complex. The fact that the recipient has to undergo an operation with its medical implications and has a recovery period before resuming normal duties are major reasons. In spite of this fact, most studies carried out with live donors find that following a successful organ transplant, donors feel good both physically and psychologically and have no regrets. In this paper, five participants describe their experiences as live organ donors. Interviews are analysed using Thematic Analysis. The results show that for these participants, giving a kidney was the natural thing to do. The questions whether doctors should actively encourage live organ donation and whether live organ donation should be promoted through campaigns are discussed in light of these results.