Kidney Patient Guide

I think, In males, only if the remaining kidney is damaged in some way.

Of course, females with only one kidney will probably have problems in pregnancy, because at that time the mothers kidneys have to do their work for the baby as well as for the mother.

I'm not sure it's fair to say that problems are to be expected in pregnancy after donation - I know a lady who has and it was completely plain sailing. The literature seems to agree there may be a slight increased risk of some conditions (eg pre-eclampsia) but these can be managed by good pre-natal care. My own living donor just has her annual check up once a year and all thankfully is well!

https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/ ... r-donation - <----- lots of info here.

Fair comment Trumps but I think the medical world assumes there will be problems, and is relieved when there isn't.

I am not sure but I hope they warn potential donors there could be problems, I suppose it all depends on how much, 'spare' capacity there is in the remaining kidney.

They do, among many many other conversations

No, not in my view. I'm male and I donated to my younger brother over 5 years ago - we are both in excellent health and have been ever since his medication was sorted (and his egfr is now better than mine!). I honestly do not notice the absence of a kidney at all, except for the fact that I don't use aspirin or ibuprofen etc - I just use paracetamol for the odd headache.

The thing to remember is that in the UK testing is very stringent - if they suspect that the donor might have any sort of issue in the future, then they won't let you donate. This actually leads to an interesting false statistic: "kidney donors live longer". The reason it is false is because the sample is skewed by the testing - the only donations are from people who probably would live longer than the average anyway.

NB If the OP is in another country, especially one where you can "sell" a kidney, the above does not apply and after the operation they might well chuck you out without any concern or follow up at all. Part of the checks in the UK is about whether you are in any way going to benefit from the donation - if so, the donation won't happen.

I'm now 67 and if I die tomorrow because of the donation, it would still have been worth it - my brother has truly regained his life, to the benefit of not just him but his kids and grandkids as well. You can't put a price on that.