What happens after you pledge your organs?

Anyone aged 18 and above can pledge to donate organs and tissues after death. In India, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) maintains a donor pledge register. You can register online or use Form 7 for an offline pledge. Medical suitability is assessed at the time of death.

A donor card or online pledge does not mean organs will automatically be retrieved. At the time of death, consent is required from the person legally in possession of the body, usually a close relative. This is why it is important to tell your family that you have registered and discuss your wishes with them beforehand.

Donation is considered only after death has been established according to medical and legal requirements. For brain-stem death, two sets of investigations are conducted six hours apart. Medical suitability for donation is assessed at the time of death, so registering as a donor does not guarantee that your organs will eventually be used.

If the family consents, the transplant coordinator informs the relevant organ allocation authority and coordinates the retrieval process. Organs have limited preservation times, so teams work carefully against the clock. A heart generally needs transplantation within four to six hours, while kidneys can remain viable for roughly 24 to 48 hours.

Organs are allocated through established systems. The recipient is selected according to factors such as medical suitability, urgency, waiting-list duration, geographical considerations, blood-group compatibility and applicable allocation rules. NOTTO, along with regional and state networks, coordinates the national system.

Download the Edexlive app to stay updated with the latest news India recorded 18,911 transplants in 2024, including 3,403 involving organs from deceased donors, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. More than 4.5 lakh people had pledged through the NOTTO portal by 2025-26. If you choose to donate, make your pledge through the authorised system and, importantly, make sure your family knows about your decision and understands your wishes.