Organ donation (from a living person)

Verified 01 January 2024 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)

A living person may make an organ donation for the direct therapeutic benefit of a recipient. The recipient must be a relative.

Donation within the family

An ill person may receive an organ from one of the following:

  • His father or mother
  • His son or daughter
  • His brother or sister
  • His grandparents, aunts or uncles, cousins or german cousins
  • The person with whom she lives as a couple for at least 2 years
  • Anyone with whom they have had a close and stable emotional relationship for at least 2 years

Cross-Donation

In the event of incompatibility between a person who has expressed an intention to donate an organ and a recipient, the donor and the recipient may be offered the use of cross-donation.

This consists of a potential recipient benefiting from the donation of another person who has expressed the intention to donate and who is also in a situation of incompatibility with the recipient originally designated. The latter is benefiting from the gift of another.

The maximum number of donor-recipient pairs that can be involved in cross-donation is 6.

An organ from a deceased person may be used.

This procedure preserves anonymity between donor and recipient.

Please note

no organs may be removed for donation from a minor or adult subject to a protective measure Incorporating the protection of the person (and not just his property).

Information to the donor

Before giving consent, the donor must be informed of the following:

  • Risks to him
  • Possible consequences of the sample (foreseeable physical or psychological consequences, possible repercussions on his personal, family and professional life)
  • Recipient outcomes that can be expected from the transplant
  • Possibly conditions for cross-donation, including the possibility of using an organ from a deceased person

For this purpose, the donor is received by a committee of experts. The committee ensures that the donor is freely chosen and is aware of the potential risks and challenges of the operation.

FYI  

the health facility where the sample is to be taken shall provide the donor with a list of the sites where the expert committee is located. The donor must select from this list the place where the committee will meet.

Collection of written consent from the donor

The donor must, on his own initiative, express his consent in writing before the president of the court or a magistrate appointed by him. He may reconsider his decision at any time.

The donor may apply to one of the following courts:

  • The location of the health facility where the sample is to be taken
  • The location of the health facility where the recipient is hospitalized
  • That of the donor's place of residence if the donor lives in France.
Who shall I contact

Please note

treating physicians ensure that their patients who are at least 16 years of age are informed of ways to consent to organ donation for transplantation. If not, they shall provide them individually with this information as soon as possible. National education physicians and preventive medicine physicians from higher education institutions are involved in the dissemination of this information.

General case

The donor must complete the form cerfa n°15427.

Consent to organ donation among living persons in the absence of a life-saving emergency

Who shall I contact
Life-threatening emergency

In the event of a life-threatening emergency certified by the doctor responsible for the department where the sample is to be taken, the donor shall address the Public Prosecutor a signed document indicating his or her consent to the donation and his or her relationship to the recipient.

The prosecutor shall certify in writing that he has received this consent and inform the doctor responsible.

Who shall I contact

Authorization for sampling

In several cases (for example, the donor and the recipient are siblings), the donor must submit a written request for authorization of the sample to the expert committee. The application must be accompanied by a copy of the document by which his consent was obtained.

After deliberations, the decision authorizing the sampling shall be taken by the Committee of Experts by a majority vote. The decision shall be communicated by any means which allows a written record to be kept to the following 2 persons:

  • Donor
  • Doctor in charge of the department where the sample is to be taken. He shall forward the authorization to the director of the establishment.

The healthcare establishment which carries out the sampling shall cover the health costs incurred. The institution shall reimburse certain costs incurred by the organ donor on presentation of supporting documents of expenses. These are:

  • Transport costs
  • Non-hospital accommodation costs up to €200 per day
  • All costs of hospitalization (including the hospital fee), examination and prescribed treatment for the purpose of collection
  • Costs of follow-up and care of donor due to donation
  • Contingent daily allowance for loss of earnings, limited to €209.12 raw.

Please note

the expenses of an accompanying person of a donor whose condition requires the assistance of a third party may be covered under the same conditions.

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