Donor Concerns and Financial Protections
Safety & Financials
1. What are the real surgical risks of donating a kidney?
First, kidney donation is major surgery, so the risk isn't zero, but it is low and has been falling over the past 30 years. According to a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association ("JAMA") and the National Institutes of Health, the risk of death within 90 days of donation has dropped by approximately 70% since the early 1990s.
The JAMA article shows perioperative mortality for living kidney donors, defined as deaths within 90 days, was 3.0 per 10,000 donations in 1993–2002 and roughly the same - 2.9 per 10,000 - from 2003–2012. Mortality fell to 0.9 per 10,000 in 2013–2022.
Why is risk lower today than 30 years ago? According to Mayo Clinic, improved results are due to better surgical techniques ("laparoscopic nephrectomy") and higher standards applied to potential donors, including: rigorous selection, comprehensive screening, minimizing long-term risks, and scientific approach. What tools do top transplant hospitals use to keep donors safe? Metabolic, imaging, cancer screening along with cardiovascular and genetic testing.
Second, recent kidney data - 9 deaths per 100,000 surgeries in 90 days - compare favorably against other common medical procedures for context:
• TONSILLECTOMY - the 30-day mortality estimate from 2014 was 30 per 100,000 published in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery
• CHILDBIRTH - research from the CDC published in March 2026 shows the overall mortality rate is 17.9 per 100,000, down from 32.9 in 2021. For women under 25 and age 25-39, mortality rates are 13.7 and 16.5, respectively. Mortality among Black women, however, is 44.8 per 100,000 - triple the rate of White women (14.2) and Hispanic (12.1) women.
• APPENDECTOMY - the 30-day mortality estimate was 70-240 per 100,000 and 80 per 100,000 for simple, non-perforated Appendicitis published by the National Institutes of Health in 2025.
• ELECTIVE SURGERY - the in-hospital mortality estimate (usually within 2 days) was 300 per 100,000 per The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation in 2025.
2. Will donating shorten my life or damage my long-term health?
No. Here's the standard they use: you can donate if the predicted mathematical risk of developing kidney failure in the future is no higher than a healthy person who never donated.
If there's a risk to your health, the medical team at Northwestern Medicine will identify it during your evaluation and medical testing. The benefit of such rigorous evaluation and testing is that you'll find out what health risks, if any, you face regardless of whether you donate. In fact, donors have reported that the extensive hospital tests discovered medical conditions that they otherwise would not have discovered by normal physicals with their PCP.
In fact, research published in JAMA shows that a living kidney donor lives as long as a "healthy non-donor." It's not because a kidney transplant makes you healthier. It's because Northwestern Medicine is so rigorous and careful.
Watch one altruistic donor set off a chain reaction:
3. What happens if my remaining kidney ever fails?
First, you get a "lifetime safety net" through Northwestern and its partners. If something happens to your remaining kidney, you are prioritized for a new living donor kidney. Read the details in NKR's Donor Shield Kidney Prioritization program and APKD's Kidney Promise program. Your medical team at Northwestern has all the details.
Second, the likelihood you’ll need the safety net is small. The odds of end-stage renal failure for living kidney donors - in their lifetime - is estimated at .9% vs. 3.26% for the general (unscreened) population in this research published by the National Institutes of Health.
4. What financial protections exist if I miss work or have out-of-pocket costs?
This is a pleasant surprise for most donors. Northwestern and its partners - National Kidney Registry ("NKR") and Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation ("APKD") - provide donor protections designed to neutralize eligible lost wages and out-of-pocket costs, such as travel, lodging, meals, childcare and dependent care.
These are not theoretical or conceptual benefits. They are real. NKR calls their benefits "Donor Shield" and APKD calls their benefits "Donor Protect." Donors should ask for a line-by-line financial review early before they are emotionally invested.
5. Will my medical team protect my health over the need for my kidney?
Yes. In fact, donors have their medical team and patients have a different medical team. There's also a cyber wall between them.
The donor medical team prioritizes your health, privacy, and freedom to choose based on federal and state law. If the team sees any medical, emotional, or practical concern, donation can be delayed or stopped to protect the donor.
6. Can I change my mind before, during or after evaluation or medical testing?
Absolutely. You can stop at any time, for any reason – at any time during or after evaluation and medical testing. A good transplant hospital will ask you several times if your decision to donate is voluntary. If something changes for you — health, family, money, emotions, timing, or just your own comfort level — just tell someone on your team and nobody will ever know why.
7. What does the donor evaluation process actually protect me from?
You may want to donate, but your medical team makes the final call if you can donate or not. Donor evaluation is not just about whether your kidney could work for someone else. It is also about whether donation is good for you from a medical, emotional and practical perspective. Your evaluation and medical workup will include blood and urine testing, kidney-function checks, CT imaging, blood-pressure review, infectious-disease screening, psychosocial review, and financial counseling.
8. Do I have to be a perfect match to help?
No. A donor does not have to be a perfect match to save another person's life. In many cases, a mismatch is not the end of the road. It's just a different path forward. Matching is explained in detail on the Donation Steps page.
This doctor explains how one kidney takes over for two after donation!
Real kidney donors discuss risks from their perspective in this video
