Does Blood Type Matter for Kidney Transplants?
If you’re looking for a living kidney donor, you may be wondering what role blood type plays in kidney transplantation. Does your kidney donor have to have the same blood type as you? Can someone donate a kidney to you even if they are a different blood type?
The truth is that while blood type is one factor in compatibility, when it comes to living kidney donation, it’s not as important as it once was, and in many cases, it does not matter at all.
Through the National Kidney Registry’s Voucher Program, any qualified donor can donate their kidney on your behalf, even if their blood type is not compatible with yours.
If you have someone who is willing and eligible to donate a kidney to you, the first thing the medical team will check is whether they are a good match for you. This includes checking their blood type and other matching criteria.
If they are an excellent match, the team may decide that the donor should donate directly to you. If they are not a match, or they are a match but a better match may be possible, the donor can choose to donate through the Voucher Program.
How the Standard Voucher Program Works
- The donor informs the transplant center that they would like to donate through the Voucher Program and designates you as the intended recipient.
- When the donor is ready to donate, they are activated in the NKR system and the NKR begins searching for a matching recipient. When a good match is found, the donor has the donation surgery, and their kidney is transplanted into the recipient.
- The donor’s donation generates a voucher for you. When you are ready for a transplant, you redeem the voucher and the NKR will begin searching its pool of prospective donors who have registered with the system but not yet donated.
- When a match is found, you and the donor will be scheduled for surgery. Once the kidney is removed from the donor, it is transported to your center and transplanted into you.
The Voucher Program was created to solve the problem many kidney patients face: it’s hard enough to find someone willing to donate a kidney—having to find someone with a matching blood type makes the process even more difficult.
The Voucher Program essentially removed blood type from the equation: all you have to do is find a qualified donor, and the NKR does the rest.