Organ Donor - opt in or opt out

[ali_alic]

My friends and I had a bit of a discussion about this and I would like to know ABers opinions. To put it simplisticly I believe if you are willing to receive (for you or on behalf of someone else, child etc), you should be willing to give. To this end I think Organ Donations should be on an opt out basis. This would cover all those people with religious beliefs who are against it who could opt out and would cover all those people who have no objection but just never got round to getting a donor. I know some people would state that it may be hard to prove you have opted out when you've been involved in a bad accident, but surely on the whole the greater good would be served??
If the majority of us, even by default, were donors this would also take away a lot of the "don't trust 'em to wait until I'm dead" fears as hopefully there will be a lot more organs to go round.
By the way I am both a blood and organ donor. Over 60 pints of blood so far!

[ali_alic]

unruliejulie - my point exactly

If you are willing to receive you should be willing to give.

Maybe thats a way to get more donors?? Instead of asking them if they are willing to donate, ask them if they are willing to receive!! And yes to receiving means yes to giving? Maybe not (that was tongue in cheek by the way!!) - will stick with supporting the Opt Out scheme!!

[ali_alic]

fee-is-me - would he therefore refuse you receiving an organ if you were laid there on a hospital bed?

Can next of kin reverse your decision to donate??

[unruliejulie]

I don't think they can ali_alic. I would be furious if i thought anyone could go against my wishes like that.
Fee, my ex husband used to feel like that and i have to say, i had zero respect for that decision and used to try and argue about what he needed them for after his death but it is entirely that persons personal decision. I dont mind some people being against it, i would just like to see a general improvement in the amount of donors we have now.

[fee-is-me]

I honestly don't know ali_alic, i asked him that and to be fair, he didn't know either, but said he would find it very hard to agree to.

Charming!

I respect his wishes not to carry a card - and would therefore not give permission for his bits and pieces to be used to help someone else... but i would do it with a VERY heavy heart, i can tell you.

If he needed a transplant and was in the fortunate position of being 'offered' one... i would, of course be all for it... but he feels, now (in good health, i might add) that he would not choose for himself to receive an organ.

We have had this conversation many times and never truly 'resolved' it as he seems to waver at times.

I think i need to clarify his wishes - either way.

[ali_alic]

Fee-is-me. If he does not wish to donate but also not to receive then hats off to him, I can't but respect his view. Don't agree with it, but respect is due nonetheless!!

[unruliejulie]

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Body-and-Soul/Q uestion220146.html
ali, this was my original question on this subject. It makes intersting reading.

[fee-is-me]

I agree ali_alic... what he chooses to do or not do with his own body is entirely down to him... lol... i just hope he has the same respect for me if i am ever in that situation... i want to be able to help someone if at all possible, and would be most delighted to receive an organ if i needed one!

(Excuse me ali_alic)

LMU - i can see i have a mail from you - but i can't access it - my mail is playing up big time, and so is msn - will be in touch as soon as it is sorted x

[sweetdor]

hi there
well since i was about 5yrs old i have always said when i die i want my body to be used for medical reserch so when i was 21 me hubby and our 2 children spoke about it ,how they felt etc and i went ahead and applied to the doctor,he then wrote to the universcity of cambridge who have accepted me they can use what ever they need before and then to be experimented on i cant see the point of going in the ground or being burnt and doing nothing id rather make use of my-selfby the way im 46 now and hope i still have afew more years left yet

[Pippa68]

Oh my word ~ and I said almost the exact same thing on your thread, unrulie!

My husband knows I would be incredibly willing to donate organs ~ I suppose what he was worried about was the fact that they may take my organs, screen them & then chuck them away if they were no good ;o)

He wasn't in for the idea of donating his organs ~ but since our daughter was born with a kidney complaint which needs regular medication & she *may* have to have a transplant later on, he has changed his mind. Isn't that funny?

[PhilBy]

As far as I understand it is up to the next of kin to say 'yes' or 'no' and the fact you carry a donar card doesn't really mean anyhting. My brother-in-law has donated his body to medical science but had to sign a legally binding contract to be able to do so.

Personally I would have no hesitation to agreeing to organ donations at all but take on raysparx's concerns. I also think I should have the right to be burried in a card board box iwith no fuss and expense to my surviving family .... but that is a different kettle of fish :)

[ali_alic]

unruliejulie - read your post and the answers. I must admit I tend not to go onto B&S as my first foray into this realm was horrible. There was a major row going on and it was getting very personal. So hence I didn't read it the first time around and didn't pick up on it when posting this question. However, loved the comment in answer to the "want to go to heaven with all my bits in place" re the cremating and disintegration of our bodies if buried. I can't say I am a believer but would God really reject you because you don't have kidneys but saved lives??

[Kate77]

i sent off for a donar card but havent heard back. What is the proper procedure?
I didnt want to donate my corneas though! I guess your eyes are part of you and at the end of the day everything else is just mechanical!
I donate blood to and wanted to help more by platelet donation but Ive got the wrong blood ;-(

[noxlumos]

I am all for organ donation in theory and in practice, but I'm very against this proposal for the following reasons. Imagine this scenario:-
Your child is greivously injured in an accident and has only the slimmest of chances of surviving anyway. If they do survive they will have significant pain and/or loss of quality of life. They may be paralysed or braindamaged or seriously incapacitated in some other way and however you will look at it, they are likely to need serious nursing for the rest of their lives and cost a lot of money to treat and look after.If the Drs try their hardest to save them it's a pretty gloomy outcome either way, but if they try to a reasonable level but don't really pull out all the stops then that child of yours can donate liver, kidneys, corneas, heart, lungs etc etc etc, making it possible for many people to live healthy and by comparison less costly (to the NHS) lives than your child. A Dr will at some point make the wrong decision, that's without a doubt, and that is why I am against this.I do not want a Dr having a life or death decision to make based on economics and his own opinion about what my child ( who he didn't know) might want to happen. I feel that it's a parental duty to retain that control as I feel to do anything else would be to shirk my responsibilities as a parent. If my child was already dead then i would have no problem with donating their organs, it's Drs being aware before hand that is unacceptable.

[fee-is-me]

Am i being terribly naive, here...?

Does anyone actually believe that doctors WOULD do what nox said...?

I genuinely thought they always pulled out ALL the stops, regardless of the other issues, such as their own personal beliefs etc.

I'm confused now.

[ali_alic]

kate77, register on line at

www.uktransplant.org.uk

its the NHS site

Ali

x

[4getmenot]

noxlumus thats exacatly how I feel. that how do you know if you're on the donating list docs might not work so hard to save your life or even your childs if they need the organs for someone else. This may sound selfish but I do my bit still and give blood.

[ali_alic]

But 4getmenot & nox. If organs were more easily available then there wouldn't be the dearth and therefore maybe that problem wouldn't arise. On balance organ donation has got to be a good thing

[4getmenot]

Just my opinion and the way I and most of my family have always seen it. I have no problem with donations as I give blood, I just see Organ donation as a bit different. If I have died and it was up to my family then fine give my organs away but I wouldnt want to be in a situation where I have a sick child and the docs basically are waiting for the organs.

[ali_alic]

4getmenot. You and your family have actually seen that happen!! Wow. All I can say is that quite a few members of my family are in the medical profession, one in particular is a doctor that deals with just born babies that are extremely ill so sees a high death rate, truely heartbreaking. However she and all the other members do their upmost to keep their patients alive. So much so that there are often lively arguments in our family about quantiry and quality of life. They are adamant that it is not their decision to decide if the quality of life afterwards supports their efforts in treating those patients. I, like fee-is-me, would not expect anything different.

[4getmenot]

I didn�t say we�ve seen it happen, I said that�s how we�ve always seen it. In your question you said you�d like to know peoples opinions and that�s what I�m giving. You may say your family are in the medical profession but that does not change my opinion. Sorry if its not what you wanted to hear but if you ask for an opinion you should be able to take it.