Strengthening the Transplant System: 5 Common Myths About Living Kidney Donation

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / August 14, 2026 / With more than 90,000 people in the U.S. on the national transplant waitlist, the demand for life-saving organs far outpaces the supply. Living donation offers a strong pathway to addressing this public health challenge, and supporting a larger potential donor pool requires providing clarity on perceived barriers in the process.

Angela Laino, a DaVita social worker who guides patients through their transplant journeys, recently became a non-directed living donor. In non-directed donation, sometimes called altruistic donation, someone chooses to donate their kidney without having an intended recipient. Laino's selfless decision initiated a transplant chain that saved three lives. Her firsthand experience highlights the profound impact of living donation and the need to remove structural barriers for future donors.