What is organ donation?
Organ donation is a precious gift that saves thousands of lives in the UK every year.
Organ donation is when you decide to give an organ to save or transform the life of someone else.
Did you know that someone dies every day waiting for an organ transplant?
Most organ and tissue donations come from people who have died. You can record whether or not you want to become an organ donor when you die on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
You can also donate some organs while you are alive, and this is called living organ donation. There is a separate process to register your interest in becoming a living organ donor.
If you needed an organ transplant, would you have one?
By registering as an organ donor, you could one day save up to 9 lives.
Learn about organ donation
Read about organ donation on our website. If your faith and beliefs are an important part of your life, get guidance and advice to help you make your decision.
Register your decision
Registering your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register takes just 2 minutes and will help your loved ones to support your choice.
Talk to your loved ones
Your loved ones will be asked to support your decision, and organ donation will not go ahead if your family objects. Make sure they know what you want.
The register is checked
If you die in a way that means organ donation is a possibility, a specialist nurse will access the NHS Organ Donor Register to see if you had registered a decision.
Your loved ones are consulted
The specialist nurse will discuss your decision with your loved ones, or if you hadn't registered a decision, ask your loved ones if they know your feelings about organ donation. Organ donation will not go ahead if your family objects, so it's really important that they know what you want.
Your decision is respected
If you had registered a decision to donate, or your family tell the specialist nurse that it's what you would have wanted, your gift of organ donation could save up to 9 lives. If you had registered a decision not to donate, this will be respected.
