Honoring those who share life

April is National Donate Life Month — a time to honor those who give the gift of life through organ donation. In the United States, more than 49,000 organ transplants were performed in 2025 thanks to donors and their loved ones. Yet the need remains urgent. More than 100,000 people are still waiting for a lifesaving transplant, and each day 13-17 lives are lost.

Living donation

For many patients with kidney failure, a transplant from a living donor provides their best chance to live longer and remain free from dialysis. Living kidney donors are people who choose to donate a kidney to someone else for transplantation. This generous gift is possible because we can live a healthy life with just one kidney.

Any healthy adult can potentially donate. Piedmont Transplant conducts a thorough medical evaluation to ensure it would be safe. Most insurance companies cover the costs, and minimally invasive surgical techniques make recovery easier, so most donors are back to work within two weeks.

Living donors often describe donation as a meaningful experience and go on to live healthy, active lives—while seeing firsthand the impact of their gift.

If you have considered being a living kidney donor, we encourage you to fill out a health questionnaire: piedmont.donorscreen.org.

Donating after death

We also honor registered donors who choose to donate organs and tissues upon death. One donor can save up to eight lives and improve many more.

You can join 170 million registered organ and tissue donors:

• Sign up when you obtain or renew your drivers, hunting or fishing license.
• Register to be an organ and tissue donor with limits if you’d like at donatelifegeorgia.org.
• Talk to your loved ones about your decision to be a donor.

For more than 25 years, Piedmont Transplant has provided exceptional care and outstanding patient outcomes to patients across the Southeast. We are nationally ranked as a top transplant center by volume, and our surgeons use advanced techniques and technologies to provide incredible patient care. Many of our patients experience shorter wait times for transplantation than at other transplant centers.

Learn more at piedmont.org.

*Sources: unos.org/media-resources/releases/u-s-surpasses-49000-organ-transplants-while-deceased-organ-donations-dip/; www.hrsa.gov/optn?from=optn.transplant.hrsa.gov