ABSTRACT
The donor who offers a part of his body for transplantation is making an inestimably precious gift. Transplantation has been denned by the medical profession and society at large as a "gift of life" since the first human organ grafts were performed during the mid-1950s. Initially, the notion of the gift was used metaphorically, with little awareness or analysis of its implications. Only gradually, through clinical experience and interpretive input from psychiatrists, social workers, and social scientists, did the psychological, social, and cultural meaning and repercussions of the gift-exchange aspects of transplantation become more apparent and better understood. The medical team, usually directed by a surgeon-transplanter, plays a gatekeeping role in determining who, if any, among the family members offering to donate their kidney is in fact selected to do so. In addition to histocompatibility testing, the eligibility screening that a prospective live donor undergoes involves psychological and social considerations.
