How Long Will My Transplanted Kidney Last?
Kidneys from deceased donors last an average of 10-12 years. Your new kidney lifespan will depend on the kidney used, how well you take care of it, and how faithfully you take your medication.
How Will You Find the Right Kidney for Me?
We start by registering you on the national transplant waitlist operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). It matches available organs to recipients using policies designed to give all people an equal chance to receive a needed organ. You will not be assigned a number in the waitlist line. Rather, when a kidney from a deceased donor becomes available, it is matched with potential recipients based on three key criteria:
- Blood type: O, A, B, or AB.
- HLA antigens: These are proteins found on cells of the kidney and your blood cells. If the kidney you receive has some of the same proteins as you, then it’s less likely your body will see the kidney as foreign and reject it.
- Waiting time: How long the potential recipient has been on the waitlist. Waitlist time begins when a person is placed on the waitlist or when they begin dialysis, whichever comes first.
How Long Will I Need to Wait for a Kidney Transplant?
It’s impossible to say how long your wait time will be, but these are the averages, by blood type:
- O: 5-7 years
- A: 3-5 years
- B: 6-7 years
- AB: 1-7 years
Half of our kidney transplant patients receive an organ in less than 45 months. By comparison, the median wait time in the U.S. as a whole is 56 months.