Living Donor Center

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Getting patients the lifesaving transplants they need

Through its Living Donor Center, the Houston Methodist J.C. Walter Jr. Transplant Center is determined to help all patients whose lives depend on kidney and liver transplants.


Our doctors, specialists and staff have decades of experience and understand how the steps to transplant can be for patients facing organ failure, as well as for their donors. We recognize the complexity and uniqueness of each patient’s path, and we meticulously prepare everyone for transplant. 


We are committed to the safety and health of all donors by thoroughly screening everyone to ensure they live a healthy life after donation.

 

Living donation: the ultimate gift

“Living donation is the ultimate gift of life — literally giving a piece of yourself in order to save another person’s life and prolong your time with that person… It is remarkable,” said A. Osama Gaber, MD, distinguished chair and director of the center.

Diane's Story

Diane Ikonomidis saved a stranger’s life by donating a kidney. Now she wants others to understand how meaningful kidney donation can be to someone whose life depends on a transplant. “If you could do that, why wouldn’t you?” she asks.

Byron and Lori's Story

Lori Ledet decided to become a kidney donor after she discovered her father, Byron Taylor, needed a new one to survive. She even began the process before revealing her plan to him. Taylor says receiving his daughter’s kidney “is one of the greatest gifts I have ever had in my life.”

Tina and Christy's Story

Tina Huerta required dialysis three times a week, every week, for six years before she finally qualified for a kidney transplant. But she needed a donor. Her friend Christy Gilliam donated a kidney to free Huerta from dialysis and reclaim her life.