Living kidney donation and paired exchange

HRSA says a living donor may be a relative, friend, co-worker or someone who does not know the person who needs a kidney.¹

Paired kidney exchange matches donors with other patients when the donor and the person they want to help do not match.¹

Ask the living donor team how an exchange would work.

A donor can decide not to donate at any time.¹

Speak with your donor advocate in private if you want to stop.

An independent living donor advocate protects the donor’s interests and helps them decide freely.¹²

Ask how to reach the advocate and how they protect your privacy.

HRSA says the patient’s insurance generally pays for a donor’s medical costs for the donation.¹

The National Living Donor Assistance Center can help eligible donors with travel, lost wages and care for dependents.¹

As of October 2026, the new federal rules for this help apply to applications reviewed on or after September 30, 2026.³

Ask for a written list of costs and how to get help with each one.

New York’s Living Donor Support Program helps eligible donors pay for travel, lost wages, care for dependents and medical costs tied to donation.⁴

As of October 2026, New York requires applications before donor surgery; a transplant center professional submits the application.⁴

Ask the donor team to check your residency and other program rules before you spend money.

HRSA advises yearly health check-ups with your doctor after you donate.¹

As of October 2026, HRSA says donors need tests at six, 12 and 24 months after surgery; the tests may vary by hospital.¹

Ask where to get each test and who will pay for it.

HRSA says no one should pressure a person to donate; the choice belongs to the donor.¹

Share the HRSA living donation page listed under Sources. Invite them to speak with the donor team on their own. Ask your center for its living donor page.

Living donor pages

• Albany Medical Center Hospital⁵
• Erie County Medical Center
• Hackensack University Medical Center
• Hartford Hospital
• Long Island Jewish Medical Center-Cohen Children's Medical Center
• Montefiore Medical Center
• Mount Sinai Medical Center⁶
• NY Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Univ. Medical Center
• NYU Langone Health
• New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center
• North Shore University Hospital/Northwell Health
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
• Saint Barnabas Medical Center (Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center)
• State University of New York Upstate Medical University
• State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center
• Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester Medical Center
• University Hospital of State University of New York at Stony Brook
• Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital
• Westchester Medical Center
• Yale New Haven Hospital

If your program is not here, ask it for its donor team’s page.

Find your transplant program.