8 common myths about organ donation. Busted by a doctor.

Myths about organ donation could stop us saving lives.

Anyone could find themselves in need of a life-saving transplant. People who need a transplant are usually very sick or dying, and can be babies, children and young or older adults. Organ failure can arise from a sudden illness or injury, or chronic disease, or inherited conditions.

Donation of skin, eye and bone tissue can also save lives, and makes the difference between seeing and being blind, mobility and never walking again, or a speedy rather than protracted recovery from trauma, cancer or disease. Tissue such as skin can be life saving for burns victims, and donated heart valves can make complex heart repair surgery possible. Eye tissue can restore sight and bone can be used for reconstructive orthopaedic surgery enabling mobility and independence.

And while the chance to save lives makes 90 per cent of Australians willing to become an organ and tissue donor, around 40 per cent of us have not decided about donation, and less than a third of us have discussed our donation decision with our loved ones.

Related: Have the conversation: organ donations are dropping.

To help you separate fact from fiction and kick-start the donation conversation at home, here are some of the most common organ and tissue donation myths, debunked.

Myth 1: It’s my choice, so I don’t need to discuss it with my family.

Your family needs to know because they will be asked to confirm your donation decision.

Families play a crucial role in the donation process. They are involved in each step of the donation process, and asked to provide vital health information regarding the potential donor.

If you’ve decided to become a donor – even if you’ve registered on the Australian Donor Register – you need to prepare your family so that they are comfortable being part of the process.

Myth 2: It’s better to just let my family decide at the time.

One of the main reason families decline donation is because they simply don’t know what their loved one wanted.

Families that have discussed and know each other’s donation decisions almost always say ‘yes’ to donation, but 31 per cent of us have not yet had that conversation with our loved ones.

It’s important that every Australian registers their donation decision on the Australian Organ Donor Register and discusses that donation decision with their family.

Myth 3: Organ and tissue donation is against my religion.

Almost all religions support organ and tissue donation as an act of compassion and generosity, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. Very few religions do not.

Yet, 40 per cent of Australians are unsure if their religion supports organ and tissue donation, and 20 per cent of families that declined donation in 2014 did so out of religious or cultural concerns.

What Australians need to know is that the organ and tissue donation process can accommodate religious and cultural end of life requirements.

Myth 4: I’m too old to be an organ and tissue donor.

Age is not a barrier to donation – people aged in their 70s and 80s have saved and changed lives by becoming organ and tissue donors.

While the majority (79 per cent) of Australians aged 65+ years are willing to donate organs and tissues, 41 per cent assume they are too old to be considered as donors.

Read more: Zaidee’s legacy: inspiring families to discuss organ donation

Each potential donor is assessed on an individual basis. There is every possibility you may be able to donate your organs or tissues.

So, don’t rule yourself out – count yourself in.

Myth 5: I’m not healthy enough to donate because of my lifestyle choices.

Seven in 10 Australians wrongly believe you have to be very healthy to be an organ and tissue donor. This increases to 8 in 10 for young adults aged 18-29 years.

But you don’t have to be in perfect health to be a donor – people who smoke, drink, or don’t have a healthy diet can still donate.

There’s every chance that some of your organs and tissues may be suitable for donation.

The determining factors are where and how a person dies, and the condition of their organ and tissues.

Myth 6: Organ and tissue donation disfigures the body.

Nearly one in three Australians fear that organ and tissue donation leaves the body mutilated and disfigured. This increases to nearly half of all young adults aged 18-29 years.

Organ and tissue retrieval is performed by highly skilled health professionals. The surgical incision made during the operation is closed and covered like in any other operation, and will not be visible beneath the person’s clothes.

The donor’s body is always treated with dignity and respect and the family can still have an open casket viewing if desired.

Myth 7: If I have registered as a donor, doctors won’t try as hard to save my life.

Twenty per cent of Australians fear that a doctor may not try as hard to save their life if they are registered as an organ or tissue donor. This increases to 35 per cent amongst young adults aged 18-29 years.

But saving your life is the absolute priority of medical staff – health staff, doctors and nurses work incredibly hard to save people’s lives. Organ and tissue donation is only considered when it’s absolutely clear that the person has died or that death is inevitable, at which time the Australian Organ Donor Register will be checked.

Related: She was told she wouldn’t live to see her 30th birthday. But an organ donation saved her life.

Myth 8: Enough people become donors so I don’t need to think about it.

In any one month, there are around 1,600 people on transplant waiting lists. They are counting on every potential donor having decided, registered and discussed that decision with their family.

The opportunity to donate organs is rare – only one per cent of people who die in hospital do so in the specific circumstances where organ donation is possible. The circumstances for tissue donation are less limited, so more people can become eye and tissue donors.

Most of these rare deaths are sudden and unexpected with the patient dying in a hospital Emergency Department or Intensive Care Unit on a ventilator.

One organ and tissue donor can transform and save the lives of many. To optimise every potential organ and tissue donation opportunity we need every Australian family to decide and discuss their donation decision with loved ones.

If we as individuals and as a community expect to receive an organ or tissue transplant should the need arise, then we as a community need to be prepared to donate.

For more information about organ and tissue donation visit donatelife.gov.au or join the conversation online using #DiscoverTheFacts

Dr Helen Opdam is the National Medical Director of the Organ and Tissue Authority, and Medical Director for DonateLife Victoria. She is a Senior Intensive Care Specialist at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne.

Helen has been involved in organ donation since 1998 and has a particular interest in determining the potential for organ donation through the audit of hospital deaths. She currently chairs the National DonateLife Data and Audit Working Group which oversees the national audit to detect potential donors. She is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Death and Organ Donation Committee and is a Council Member of the International Society for Organ Donation and Procurement.