UNOS Donor Matching Process
- A kidney is donated from a person who has just died.
- The donor’s medical information is put into the UNOS database.
- UNOS notifies Children’s that a kidney is available.
- The pediatric kidney transplant surgeon and team review whether to accept or decline the organ. This is based on whether the kidney is the best match for your child.
- The Children’s Kidney Transplant coordinator calls you when a kidney is available.
- To understand how patients are matched on the national waiting list:
- Think of the list as a “pool” of patients
- When an organ is available, UNOS searches the entire “pool” for a match
Other factors include:
- Location of the kidney and the child
- Amount of time that the child has been on the waiting list
- Blood type: your child can receive a kidney from a person with the same or with a compatible blood type—the four most common blood types are O, A, B and AB