On average, 18 people die every day while waiting for organ transplants in the US, and every 10 minutes, another name is added to the waiting list. In New York, someone dies every 15 hours waiting for an organ transplant. So what is keeping these patients from receiving the organs they need? Dawn Francisquini RN BSN, Transplant Senior Specialist, Stony Brook University Department of Transplant, says it could be some of the myths her team tries to bust every day.

Myth #1: In order to be a living donor you have to be the same blood type and sex as the recipient.

Answer: “Yes, in order to directly donate to someone you need to be the same or a compatible blood type,” says Francisquini. "However, if you are not the same blood type you can still donate in the paired exchange program.” The paired exchange is comprised of recipients who have living donors who for some reason cannot donate directly to them. The “pair” is put into this “pool” with other recipients and living donors who are in the same situation and essentially a swap is made. For example recipient 1 will receive a kidney from a living donor and in exchange their living donor donates to another recipient in the program.

Furthermore, Francisquini says the sex of a donor does not matter. “A male can donate to a female and vice versa.” When speaking of living donation, a living donor can be a family member, friend or can be an altruistic unknown- they just need to be healthy.

Myth #2: You cannot have children after being a living donor.

Answer: “This is absolutely not true,” says Francisquini. “In order to be a living donor you must be in good health.” After proper screening of all living donors they can go on to have children. In fact, kidney transplant recipients can also go on to have children after transplant.

Myth #3: It is against some religions to donate organs.

Answer: All major religions support organ donation and leave it up to the individual.

Myth #4: Only wealthy people get transplants.

Answer: “This is absolutely false,” says Francisquini. “Anyone waiting for an organ transplant has to be placed on the transplant waitlist.” Organs are then allocated based on waiting time, medical urgency, tissue matching, etc. A patient’s financial status has nothing to do with how or when they will receive a transplant.

Myth #5: All transplant programs use steroids as maintenance immunosuppression.

Answer: “This was true when transplant first came about and for many years” explains Francisquini. “Currently there are still many programs that use steroids in this way." However, Stony Brook’s kidney transplant department does not.

Myth #6: Kidney transplant is only for young adults with kidney failure.

Answer: “False, kidney transplant recipients ranging from age 14 months to 78 years of age have been successfully transplanted at Stony Brook, with success rates consistently at or above expected.”