Anonymity of organ donors under discussion.

ABSTRACT

The World Health Organization declares in its Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation that organizations must ensure that the personal anonymity and privacy of donors and recipients are always protected. Hence, most of the European transplantation programs forbid any form of direct contact between the family of the deceased donor and the transplant recipient. The anonymity is guarded to protect both parties against potential abuse, manipulation or financial pressure. However, legislation on anonymity of organ donation has come under discussion in the last few years, especially in Italy where the National Committee for Bioethics has recently positioned in favor of allowing organs donor families and transplant recipients to meet, if both parties wish to. Most donor families need to "complete" the biography of the deceased and make peace with their decision to consent to the donation; on the other hand, a considerable proportion of recipients wish to acknowledge the role that the donor and their family played in saving their lives and make peace with having a part of the donor sustaining their life, while not feeling guilty. Thus, a resilient model built on confidentiality, autonomy and freedom to make informed choice should be considered in those countries where a change in the transplantation law is currently debated.