NATIONAL DONATE LIFE MONTH-CALIFORNIA-ORGAN DONORS - YOUNG AND OLD SOUGHT

Source: Sacramento Bee

Organ donors – young and old – sought

Published: Wednesday, Apr. 7, 2010 - 4:48 pmBy Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Donate Life California, an organ donor registry, urges Californians to observe National Donate Life Month this April by registering as organ donors.

Although 6.3 million California residents have enrolled as organ and tissue donors, making the state's donor registry the largest in the United States, Californians are less likely than people elsewhere in the nation to register when offered the opportunity, according to Donate Life California.

In 2009, only 26 percent of state Department of Motor Vehicle customers applying for or renewing their driver's licenses and identification cards checked "yes" on their forms to register as donors, placing California in the bottom fifth of states nationwide. Of 26 million licensed drivers and ID holders, only 23 percent have signed up to be organ and tissue donors, according to a Donate Life California news release.

Least likely to register are young drivers age 15 to 19 and adults 50 and older.

"Both groups have a tendency to rule themselves out for well-intentioned reasons," Bryan Stewart, Donate Life California president, said in the news release. "Many first-time drivers believe they are not yet old enough to make the donation decision, while many adults over the age of 50 think their advanced age or medical conditions are reasons for ruling themselves out thinking they are protecting others."

But anyone can be a donor, Stewart said, noting that a 93-year-old kidney donor and a 99-year-old cornea donor set the national records for oldest organ and tissue donors. Age and most medical conditions do not preclude one from being a suitable donor, and all potential donors are evaluated by medical professionals on a case-by-case basis.

Teens who apply for their first driver's license may also sign up on the registry. Youths as young as 13 may register online, although their parents would make the final decision about organ donation if the child were younger than 18.

Donate Life California is the nonprofit, state-authorized organ and tissue donor registry administered by California's four nonprofit, federally designated organ recovery organizations: California Transplant Donor Network, Golden State Donor Services, Lifesharing and OneLegacy.

For more information, go to www.dmv.ca.gov/about/donateLife/donateLife.htm, www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org, or in Spanish, www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org