Iranian Kidney Donors:: Motivations and Relations With Recipients

Abstract

None of the donors studied fulfilled the criteria of compensated donation or donation with an incentive and 97% were vendors. All evidence shows that the donor-recipient relationship in Iran is pathological with no similarity to the emotionally related category of transplantation. Reports by the reformist Iranian press, which have all been banned, show that our sample is a good representative of other Iranian donors. Almost none of the criteria of an acceptable living unrelated renal donor transplant program is met in Iran. The opinion of kidney donors should be regarded as the final arbiter when labeling the act as a sale or donation and it should be considered in discussions of living unrelated donor transplantation.

Key issues in transplant tourism

“…Ninety one percent expressed social isolation about their donation and 94% regretted donating [69] . The studies in Pakistan and Egypt are consistent with findings in India [71] , Iran [72] and the Philippines [38] that revealed deterioration in the health condition of CLD.…”

“…Goyal et al [71] studied 305 commercial kidney donors in India and reported that the average family income declined by 33% after nephrectomy and 86% reported worse health status. In a study of 300 commercial live donors, Zargooshi [72] showed that poverty prevented 79% from attending follow up care. A long-term financial disadvantage is reported following nephrectomy from a compromised ability to generate a prior income level.…”

Care for commercial living donors: the experience of an NGO’s outreach in Egypt

“…Researchers have also generally not included arrangements for care provision after obtaining findings. 7 (20), none participated in the follow-up. The authors attributed this to the cost of travel and/or the inability to take time off from work.…”

The Gift of Life: Can the Organ Procurement Philosophies from Spain and Iran Help Eliminate the Organ Shortage in the United States?

“…263 Consistent with this claim is the discovery that financial gain has been implicated as the driving force behind vendors' participation in the program. 264 Whatever the incentive to sell, some maintain that vendors benefitted financially from the transaction, 265 while others have found that the remuneration from vending kidneys proved to be wholly insufficient.…”