Long-Term Risks of Living Donation

While donating your kidney to someone in need is a great act of kindness, it’s important to know about the risk of possible long-term health issues after you donate. Your transplant team will talk to you about these risks during your evaluation. Their most important job is to do everything they can to make sure you will stay healthy after donating a kidney. 

Research has shown that donating your kidney doesn’t shorten your life. Some studies have found that living donors live longer than the average person. This is because you have to be very healthy to be a living donor.

People who donate a kidney have a small chance of developing new health issues. For all living donors, possible long-term health risks include:

• Slightly higher blood pressure. Some donors have developed higher than normal blood pressure years after donating. Similar to non-donors, living donors can manage high blood pressure with medication if this happens.
• Diabetes. After donating, there is a chance you can develop diabetes. 
• Kidney failure. Less than 1% of living donors develop kidney failure after donation. If you end up needing a kidney transplant after donating, you will be given a higher priority on the deceased donor waitlist. 
  • If you donate through a National Kidney Registry (NKR) program, you’ll be given priority for a living donor kidney. As of 2024, NKR has had 6,000 people donate through their programs and none of these donors have needed a kidney transplant.

African American and Hispanic people have a higher increased risk of developing certain kidney-related health issue. The transplant team will take extra steps when evaluating you to make sure your long-term health will not be at risk if they approve you to donate.

If you are female and donate your kidney, you can get pregnant after donation. It’s recommended to wait 6 months to 1 year after donation to become pregnant. Your body will need time to recover from the surgery and adjust to living with one kidney before pregnancy.

You may be at a slightly higher risk for gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy), gestational hypertension (high blood pressure during pregnancy), and preeclampsia (health condition causing swelling, headaches and protein in your urine). If you are planning on having children after you donate, make sure you discuss your plans with your transplant team before donating a kidney.

Many of your costs related to donating your kidney will be covered by your recipient’s health insurance, even if you don’t know the person you’re donating to. If for any reason you end up having medical issues related to the donation surgery, they will also be covered by your recipient's insurance or the transplant center. There are other financial and insurance topics to think about if you make the decision to donate.

For most living donors, life after donating a kidney isn’t too different than before you donated. You can return to work a couple of weeks after you recover from surgery, return to physical activity, and eat a normal, well-balanced diet.

• What are my individual long-term health risks if I donate?
• If for any reason my recipient’s health insurance doesn’t cover the costs of possible complications (if I have any after donating), does your center cover those costs?

• Talk to someone who’s donated (NKF Peers) 
• Ask questions and get help finding a transplant center (NKF CARES)