10 Living Kidney Donations in 11 Months: How a Donor-Registry Question Opens a Pathway

On November 4, 2026, Donate Life America (DLA) and the National Kidney Registry (NKR) announced the tenth living kidney donation made possible through their Donate Life Living Donor Pathway partnership. Ten people have donated through the pathway in about 11 months. Nine of the ten gave a kidney to someone they had never met.

That is not a device story. It is a registry and pathway story: make living donation easier to learn about at the moment someone is already saying yes to deceased donation, without turning that interest into a commitment.

What the partnership actually does

Per the Donate Life America news release, people registering as organ, eye, and tissue donors can also indicate interest in information about living kidney donation. That living-donor interest is separate from the legally binding deceased-donor registration. It does not commit anyone to donate.

NKR then provides support for people who choose to explore living donation further, including connection to transplant programs and living-donor protections. A nondirected (anonymous) kidney donor can also start a transplant chain that helps more than one recipient.

DLA and NKR project that the partnership will add 10,000 living kidney donor registrations in 2026. That figure is their projection, not a completed total.

Why living donation still needs easier on-ramps

DLA notes that more than 110,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list, and more than 96,000 are waiting for a kidney. Over the past 20 years, living donation has grown only modestly while deceased donation has more than doubled, according to OPTN data cited in the release through October 29, 2026.

Garet Hil, founder and CEO of the National Kidney Registry, said the partnership can help shorten wait times for some patients on the deceased-donor waiting list and provide better outcomes through living donation. Madison Walter-Garcia, President and CEO of Donate Life America, framed the early results as evidence that people are eager to help when the path is clear.

What OPCs and OPOs should take from this

OPCs spend most of their time in deceased donation. Living donation still shapes the waitlist they serve. Every living kidney transplant that happens is one fewer person competing for a deceased-donor kidney.

Three practical points for donation professionals:

• Registry UX matters. A clear optional question at registration can surface living-donor interest that would otherwise never leave the driver's-license counter.
• Interest is not consent. Messaging has to stay precise: deceased registration is a legal decision; living-donor interest is a request for information. Mixing those up erodes trust.
• Nondirected donation and chains are part of modern kidney placement. OPCs who understand how chains work can explain the broader system when hospital partners or community groups ask why living donation still matters even as deceased donation grows.

For OPCs studying allocation, authorization, and donation-process support for the CPTC exam, plain-language case-flow materials are on the CPTCexam.com study resources page.

Brooke Wallace, BSN, RN, CCRN
Founder, CPTCexam.com
BrookeWallaceRN@gmail.com

Sources

• Donate Life America: Tenth Living Kidney Donation Made Possible Through Donate Life America and National Kidney Registry Partnership (November 4, 2026)
• OPTN data for donors recovered in the U.S. by donor type through October 29, 2026 (as cited in the DLA release)

CPTCexam.com is an independent educational resource. This post summarizes publicly reported news for educational purposes and is not medical or legal advice. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Donate Life America, the National Kidney Registry, OPTN, ABTC, or any organ procurement organization.