Organ transplantation means placing an organ or tissue from a donor into a person whose own organ no longer works well enough. The donor may be a deceased person or a living person. For international patients, transplantation in Türkiye almost always means a living donor who travels with the patient, most often for a kidney or part of a liver.
Transplants are carried out only at transplant centres authorised by the Ministry of Health. Whether transplantation is the right option, and whether a particular donor is suitable, is decided by the transplant team after a full assessment.
Who can be a living donor
Turkish law sets out who may donate:
- Relatives up to the fourth degree of the recipient or of the recipient's spouse: for example a parent, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, or their children.
- The recipient's spouse.
- Unrelated people, only with the approval of an ethics committee set up by the Ministry of Health, and only when no money or other benefit is involved.
Buying or selling organs is illegal in Türkiye, as in most countries.
Medical assessment
Both the recipient and the donor go through a detailed assessment. It usually includes consultations with several specialists, such as nephrology or hepatology, general surgery, cardiology, pulmonology and psychiatry, as well as blood tests, imaging and any further tests the doctors request.
The team also checks that donor and recipient are compatible:
- Blood group. As a general rule, blood group O can donate to all groups, AB can receive from all groups, and A and B can receive from their own group and from O. Rh factor does not matter for organ transplantation.
- Tissue and antibody tests. These show whether the recipient's immune system is likely to react against the donor organ. If antibodies are found, the doctors may recommend additional treatment, such as plasmapheresis, before surgery. This is not suitable for every patient, and the decision rests with the transplant team.
The assessment protects the donor as much as the recipient. A donor who is not fit to donate safely will not be accepted.
The ethics committee file
Before surgery, the transplant centre's coordinators prepare a file for the ethics committee. Requirements can change, so the centre will tell you exactly what it needs. A file usually includes:
- apostilled copies of the recipient's and the donor's passports
- apostilled proof of residence for both
- evidence of the relationship between them, such as older photos, videos or correspondence
- the donor's psychiatric assessment, carried out by the transplant centre
- signed statements from the recipient and the donor, including a declaration that no payment or debt is involved
- if the donor is married and the spouse is not travelling, the spouse's detailed consent given before a notary
Start gathering these documents in your home country early. Getting apostilles and notarised translations can take time.
Surgery and the hospital stay
The donor and the recipient are usually operated on at the same time, in two operating rooms. After surgery the recipient is monitored closely, often in intensive care at first. The donor typically leaves hospital before the recipient. How long each person stays in hospital, and when it is safe to fly home, is decided by the surgical team.
Life after transplantation
The aim of a transplant is to return the recipient to an active everyday life. Recipients take medicines that stop the body from rejecting the new organ, usually for life, and need regular check-ups. Recovery depends on the person's age, general health and other conditions. Donors also need follow-up checks.
Before you travel, agree with the transplant centre and your doctor at home on how follow-up will be organised after you return.
How MedAssist helps
MedAssist does not perform transplants. We arrange the assessment at an authorised transplant centre, help you collect and translate the documents for the ethics committee file, organise travel and accommodation for the recipient, the donor and companions, and give you a coordinator who speaks your language throughout.