It is possible to donate one of his organs during his lifetime or authorize him to have this process performed after his death. This donation is free and allows many patients to be able to stay alive. Both of these situations meet strict terms and conditions defined and controlled by the Biomedicine Agency, a state body under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. The Biomedicine Agency is responsible for developing information on the donation, removal and transplantation of organs, tissues and cells. Its role also consists of managing the national list of patients awaiting a transplant, the National Register of people who refuse organ donation, coordinating organ removals, the distribution and allocation of transplants in France and abroad. internationally, to guarantee that the grafts removed are allocated to patients awaiting transplant in accordance with medical criteria and the principles of justice, and to ensure the evaluation of medical activities.
French law establishes the principle that all people, in the name of national solidarity, are de facto donors of organs and tissues after their death. According to the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, 92% of organ or tissue donations come from a deceased person.
To oppose this legally established consent, it is necessary to explicitly express during one's lifetime one's refusal to be removed from an organ or tissue after one's death. It is also possible to oppose the removal of only certain organs or tissues.
This refusal can be signified by a dated and signed writing which is given to a relative. People who do not have the opportunity to write this document can call on a third party to do so. In this case, two witnesses must be able to attest that this writing corresponds to the wishes of the person concerned by the organ donation refusal.
It is also possible to announce your refusal to donate your organs by registering in the National Registry of Refusals, available online on the dedicated website "registrenationaldesrefus.fr", or by post addressed to the Agency for biomedicine - National register of refusals - 1 avenue du Stade de France - 93212 Saint-Denis La Plaine Cedex. From the age of 13, it is possible to take this step, and registration in this register can be modified and revoked at any time. Finally, the refusal to donate organs can also be expressed orally to loved ones.
After death, organ donation is based on the principles of anonymity and equity. It is therefore not possible to choose during his lifetime to whom the removed organs will benefit.
Donations from people who have died, most often after a head trauma, stroke or cardiac arrest, involve many organs and tissues and most often allow several patients to be transplanted. The most common organs removed and then transplanted are the kidney, liver, heart, lungs, pancreas and parts of the intestine. As far as tissue donations are concerned, it is most often the cornea of the eye, the skin, arteries, veins, bones, or even heart valves.
Post-mortem organ or tissue donation can be made regardless of the age of the deceased. An illness or taking a treatment that concerned the deceased donor does not present any particular contraindications. It is the doctors in charge of the removal who assess the quality of the organs according to their ability to be subsequently transplanted in the most efficient way possible. It is indeed the state of the organ at the time of removal that counts.
Of course, some organs are removed less from deceased people over the age of 60, such as the heart for example. But in the deceased elderly, it is possible to remove for example the kidneys or the liver.
Organ donation is entirely possible while still alive. Most of the time this donation concerns a kidney, but it can also apply, for example, to the lobe of a liver. According to the Biomedicine Agency, organ donation during one's lifetime concerns 7.5% of all transplants in France.
This type of donation is strictly framed by the bioethics law which was revised in July 2011. To donate an organ during your lifetime, you must be of legal age and responsible. In addition, these donations can only be made to a loved one:father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandparent, uncle, aunt, cousin or cousin. The recipient can also be the person with whom the donor has been living as a couple (spouse, PACS, cohabitant) for at least 2 years, or a person who belongs to his family circle, that is to say who has a link emotional relationship "close and stable" for at least two years with the donor.
There are no contraindications with regard to age for being able to donate an organ during one's lifetime. This is possible at any age.
The written consent of the donor, which he must express before the president of the judicial court or a magistrate designated by him, must nevertheless be obtained.
On the other hand, to be able to donate an organ during his lifetime, doctors must ensure that the donor can undergo surgery without risk and that he is not a carrier of communicable diseases.
On the other hand, if an incompatibility between the donor and the recipient is noted by the doctors, the latter can resort to what is called cross-donation of organs, that is to say that the organs removed will be able to benefit a recipient who does not fulfill the conditions of kinship and who is himself placed in a situation of incompatibility.
Living organ donation assumes that the donor is informed beforehand of the risks he incurs and of the physical and psychological consequences of the removal. This is why he is systematically received by a committee of experts who also check that organ donation is indeed the result of his own freely decided choice. This committee also receives the donor's written request for removal authorization, whether or not this committee accepts.
