Losing a Kidney to Save a Life: Meaning Making of Bereaved Altruistic Kidney Donors Post-Donation

In recent decades, the numbers of altruistic living kidney donations (AKD) have increased. Although much is known about deceased organ donation and AKD in general, less is known about the experience of bereaved individuals who chose to altruistically donate their kidney post-loss, particularly regarding their grief-related meaning-making process post-donation. Employing a qualitative approach, ten bereaved individuals who altruistically donated a kidney were interviewed about their grief experiences post-donation. Content analysis revealed five themes: regaining control by giving life vs. uncontrollable loss, finding meaning through donation, continuing bonds via donation, repair of connection with the deceased via donation, establishing new bonds with the recipient. The findings are discussed in light of the Continuing bonds as well as Meaning making Theories and underscore the possible affordances of AKD in the process of coping with grief. Implications for facilitating best donation experiences for grieving individuals are highlighted.