Should I donate my kidney?

PBA – Efshar if you donate a kidney and then they take it out and find it too fatty to use, maybe you can fry it up. I’m sure you can come up with some Heter like you did with Starbucks coffee!

I have a friend who, after several years of dialysis, was told that her best chance for health and more years of life was a transplant. Two adult children were prospective donors. The daughter stepped forward, since she was childless after 10 years of marriage, and said “Why should my brother travel a long distance and leave his family to donate, this is my chance to give.” The transplant went well, the recipient felt better immediately, and the donor’s recovery was a little slower. (she did, after all, undergo some serious surgery.)

You can guess the punch line – a year later, the donor gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I’m not suggesting that the results are always this good, but it is a tremendous gift. It is entirely a personal decision, and if you decide to go ahead, it should be a brocha for you and your family.

R’ Elyashiv, R’ Chaim Kanievskey, and many other (perhaps ALL other) Gedolim Pasken that while certainly not a Chiyuv, kidney donation is not only Mutar but a tremendous Mitzvah of giving life to another. And to second what the Mod said, I have not, in my somewhat extensive research, come across any recommended lifestyle restrictions other than a prudent suggestion to refrain from contact sports lest one lose his only kidney. Exercise, drinking more, etc. I have never heard of as recommended after kidney donation – sounds like plain old general advice to me (and in the case of drinking more than one needs to quench his thirst, not necessarily good advice). The remaining kidney grows larger and does the exact same job that two once did.

Again i am repeating what i posted earlier. Make sure you know how committed the recipient is to taking care of the donated kidney. As previously stated someone close to me has received a kidney and is just doing what he/she feels like as far as eating habits. This person looks like a walking time bomb and talking to him/her is as if talking to the wall. And today , someone associated with me on a Chesed project went to fetch her family member from the hospital, who also received a kidney(a few years ago) and yes, is not taking care of her/himself. Both of the above people were matched through Renewal. These 2 people have been given a diamond and treating it as cheap glass. Yes, it is sad but true.