Cons of Organ Donating

Religious beliefs and fear of the unknown are only two of the several cons of organ donating. Some feel that ethics -- both the patients' and the doctors' -- also plays a large role.

A report prepared by the national non-profit group Donate Life America recently revealed a 10 percent increase in donor designations between 2006 and 2008, which brought the total of registered donors in the United States to 70 million. However, the report also stated that only 35 percent of individuals who can register as organ and tissue donors through their state registries have done so. However, the amount of people who actually need transplants is on the rise, topping out at more than 99,000 individuals on the national waiting list.

Why is it then, that roughly 65 percent of the U.S. population who is eligible to be organ donors aren't even registered? Could it be that the benefits of organ donation do not outweigh the disadvantages?

Many people truly believe in donating their organs after they die. They believe it is not only a privilege but a social responsibility. Organs donated from one individual can save or improve the quality of about 50 lives. Other benefits include:

• Helping grieving families make some sense out of their love one's death
• Allowing some individuals to improve or have a better quality of life
• Being more cost-effective in the long run over the cost of life-long medical care

While some may shun the thought of having their body buried without all of its organs, others don't have a problem with it. However, there are many reasons why individuals are against organ donation.

Organ and tissue donation is a very personal decision, and most organized religions don't oppose it. Many encourage it and consider it an act of charity. However, some religious and ethic groups do have stipulations:

• Amish: Approves in organ donation if a person's life will definitely be improved or saved, but is reluctant to participate if the outcome of the transplant is questionable.
• Gypsies (Romany): Because this group of people share common folk beliefs, they oppose any and all organ and tissue donation. They also believe that a body should be buried with all of its organs intact because the soul maintains its physical self for one year after the individual dies.
• Jehovah's Witnesses: While donation is a personal decision, if one decides to go through with the procedure, all organs and tissues must be completely drained of blood first.
• Shinto: The religion concurs with folk belief that the a dead body is "impure and dangerous" and injuring a person after he or she dies is a "serious crime." Therefore, they do not support organ or tissue donation.

It's true, there is a black market out there for some types of donated organs, especially kidneys and most often, not in the United States. Countries including Bosnia, China, Ukraine, Iran and Pakistan, where populations are poor, are frequently in the news because residents there illegally -- and in some cases legally -- sell certain human organs for cash. In the United States, selling your organs is illegal, although some argue that if individuals were paid for the viable organs upon their demise, those on the transplant waiting list may be helped a little sooner.

But is buying human organs ethical if it is a matter of life or death? In some countries, citizens don't have much of a choice. Organs from living donors are transplanted from those living in Third World countries into prominent individuals living elsewhere. All because the money is needed for the donors to live. However, in others, organs are stolen. For instance:

• Because of the Japanese cultural beliefs regarding the body after death, there are not many viable donors living there. For many years, affluent citizens went to countries such as Singapore and Taiwan to purchase organs from executed prisoners even though the inmates did not authorize the donation. This was outlawed in 1994 by the World Medical Association.
• However, in China, it is still legal to remove and sell organs from executed prisoners without their consent, sometimes even on the eve of the execution when the individual is still alive.
• In 2004, the director of Willed Body Program at the University of California, Los Angeles was arrested for illegally selling body parts and organs donated to the program by individuals who have died. The deceased individuals donated their bodies to science for research, but instead, the former head of the program received more than $1 million for the organs and body parts when sold on the black market.

Still many Americans are unwilling to become donors simply because they don't understand everything that goes along with the procedure. To help with this, health care providers are working adamantly with organizations such as Donate Life America to ensure that both the patient and patient's family have a clear understanding as to what occurs when organs are donated and transplanted. Some myths, that help explain the cons of organ donating, include:

• Donor would be unable to have an open-casket funeral
• Under 18 is too young to donate
• Patient is too old to donate
• Family members will be billed if an organ donation occurs.

When it really comes down to it, becoming an organ or tissue donor is really a personal decision that should be discussed with your next of kin, personal physician and spiritual leader. Before you sign up to be a donor, make sure you are completely educated about the process.

• Dying Celebrities
• Books on Grief for a Stillborn Child
• Children's Books About Death

• Free Funeral Program Template
• Sample Funeral Program
• Poems Related to Grief
• Bereavement Poems by Unknown Authors
• Poem about Death of a Dog

• What to Say to a Dying Person
• Walk to Remember Infant Loss
• Sympathy Throws on an Easel
• Main Page
• Organ Donation and Grieving