My donor and I went to jimmies this week and so far so good, they just need a few more tests to repeat then we will be asked to attend an independant adjusicator to assess our relationship. My donor is my fiancés best friend, they have been mates for yonks and I have know him for approx 8 years also. We have been told that we will need proof of my fiancé and his relationship, the catch is that they dont have anything, photos, papers etc... They do have a few mutal friends that can vouch for them both but that it.
My question is, has anyone been through this process before and faced any such hurdles? I honestly am not concerned becasue the relationship is genuine and the tx team can already see this by our banter etc... but its not them we have to prove this to!
Independant adjudicator for donorship - anyone?
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Helen Rambaut
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Re: Independant adjudicator for donorship - anyone?
Yes I did have a similar problem. My half brother & I didn't have any photos of us together. But I did have photos of him as a little boy with his sisters & with our Dad & his mother. I had photos of our Dad with my mother when I was young. I had a photo of my brother with my father's current wife (not my brother's mother) and one with both of them with my mother & one of his sisters at my 40th birthday. So I put together a little picture story.
Do you have any photos or records of something you have done with the donor & witnesses. How did they meet and what do they do together? Any sport or hobby?
Do you have any photos or records of something you have done with the donor & witnesses. How did they meet and what do they do together? Any sport or hobby?
Re: Independant adjudicator for donorship - anyone?
they both used to work together but the company that would hold such records went bust years ago, they also used to live together in the donors house but they had no formal agreement and nothing left paper wise that has their old address on it! I have said to them surely they have photos from nights out etc... but they really dont, I found this unusual but then it is men we are talking about! back then we didnt have facebook culture so no real incentive to get photos I suppose.
We have all been out on days and gone for meals, been to each others house etc... so I can tell these stories. The donor is going to be my fiancés best man in september but probs not in time to get the photos. Men eh...
We have all been out on days and gone for meals, been to each others house etc... so I can tell these stories. The donor is going to be my fiancés best man in september but probs not in time to get the photos. Men eh...
Re: Independant adjudicator for donorship - anyone?
Hi
My donor and I had a similar problem - we'd known each other a similar amount of time to you and your donor but had virtually no photos of each other together. We had some of us both in the same place and had stamps in our passports (which we took as photo ID) which proved we'd been on holiday in the same country at the same time due to the visa stamps but no-one on the same holiday. The IA wasn't that interested TBH. We live very close to one another (5 mins walk) but thanks to the vagueries of addresses and postcodes, unless you look at a map you can't tell that.
We had a number of friends looking for photos of both of us together and managed one of us both at a wedding from about 6 years before the transplant which was fine except that you couldn't really tell it hadn't been taken that long ago unless you knew the bride's granny (who was also in the picture) had been dead for 5 years.
We had letters from a couple of friends. One was someone my recipient had worked with and who I had got to know and the other was from a friend of mine who my recepient had got to know - through the above holiday as it happened. But these were just letters from friends so weren't fantastic evidence but were the best we could do.
Our transplant co-ordinator made a big deal of us getting evidence but the IA wasn't really that fussed by it, she was more interested in finding out about why I'd decided to donate and that I understood the potential risks etc. She spent about 10 mins with my recipient, then about 10 mins with me and 10 mins with us both together and then it was all over. I think they take a lot of store by what the transplant co-ordinator says, so if you've got them on your side you're halfway there. And she did ask me all seriousness if I was being paid to donate.
Our IA was another doctor from the same hospital and she told us at the end of the interview that she was happy to recommend us for transplant. We then waited about 3 weeks for a letter to confirm it!!! After the build up, it was a bit of an anticlimax as it was the last bit (apart from final cross matching) in the matching process.
Maybe worth getting your fiance to come along as well to vouch for the relationship?
Good luck, let us know how you get on. PM me if you want any more information.
My donor and I had a similar problem - we'd known each other a similar amount of time to you and your donor but had virtually no photos of each other together. We had some of us both in the same place and had stamps in our passports (which we took as photo ID) which proved we'd been on holiday in the same country at the same time due to the visa stamps but no-one on the same holiday. The IA wasn't that interested TBH. We live very close to one another (5 mins walk) but thanks to the vagueries of addresses and postcodes, unless you look at a map you can't tell that.
We had a number of friends looking for photos of both of us together and managed one of us both at a wedding from about 6 years before the transplant which was fine except that you couldn't really tell it hadn't been taken that long ago unless you knew the bride's granny (who was also in the picture) had been dead for 5 years.
We had letters from a couple of friends. One was someone my recipient had worked with and who I had got to know and the other was from a friend of mine who my recepient had got to know - through the above holiday as it happened. But these were just letters from friends so weren't fantastic evidence but were the best we could do.
Our transplant co-ordinator made a big deal of us getting evidence but the IA wasn't really that fussed by it, she was more interested in finding out about why I'd decided to donate and that I understood the potential risks etc. She spent about 10 mins with my recipient, then about 10 mins with me and 10 mins with us both together and then it was all over. I think they take a lot of store by what the transplant co-ordinator says, so if you've got them on your side you're halfway there. And she did ask me all seriousness if I was being paid to donate.
Our IA was another doctor from the same hospital and she told us at the end of the interview that she was happy to recommend us for transplant. We then waited about 3 weeks for a letter to confirm it!!! After the build up, it was a bit of an anticlimax as it was the last bit (apart from final cross matching) in the matching process.
Maybe worth getting your fiance to come along as well to vouch for the relationship?
Good luck, let us know how you get on. PM me if you want any more information.
Donated kidney to my best friend on 24th June 2009 at St Georges Hospital
Re: Independant adjudicator for donorship - anyone?
I wouldn't be too concerned, my sis in law donated and typically I didn't have any pics of us together as I always take the pics when she visits.
The IA is a priest at Guys and he interviewed us both seperately for about 10 mins, can't remember but we might have seen him together also.
They just need to establish that you have a genuine relationship and that it is not being done for financial gain and that the donor knows what is involved.Gather as much evidence as you can, pics are great but you can present a case without them.
Good luck I'm sure it will be fine, must be close to transplant as this is the final hurdle.
The IA is a priest at Guys and he interviewed us both seperately for about 10 mins, can't remember but we might have seen him together also.
They just need to establish that you have a genuine relationship and that it is not being done for financial gain and that the donor knows what is involved.Gather as much evidence as you can, pics are great but you can present a case without them.
Good luck I'm sure it will be fine, must be close to transplant as this is the final hurdle.
Re: Independant adjudicator for donorship - anyone?
big thankyou for sharing your stories, really has reassured me that it will be fine! One thing for sure is that we can get people to write a letter on how we are all linked - such as their ex-colleagues and other friends. 
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bigbuzzard
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Re: Independant adjudicator for donorship - anyone?
I think this is partly a hangover from how the legal situation was before 2006. Then, it was illegal to be a living donor to someone unless you were related or had a long, provable, relationship.
From the 2006 HTA act, it's now legal in the UK for anyone to be a donor for anyone else. As has been said, the most important thing is for the IA to know that there is no financial deal involved, or other pressure on the donor, and that the donor understands what they are doing.
From the 2006 HTA act, it's now legal in the UK for anyone to be a donor for anyone else. As has been said, the most important thing is for the IA to know that there is no financial deal involved, or other pressure on the donor, and that the donor understands what they are doing.