DoNotTransplant.com - Why Sign Up

Are you one of the millions of Americans who don’t want their body parts harvested at their death? Leaving the “organ donor” box on your driver’s license blank won’t protect your rights. Neither will telling your family you don’t want to be a donor.

The organ and tissue transplant industry has made it very difficult for you to stop your organs and tissue from being harvested without your consent. Under the 2006 Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, an organ procurement organization (OPO) can assume you want to be a donor unless it finds very specific evidence to the contrary. This law has been enacted in just about every state, with more states on the way.

Here is what will happen if a hospital in one of those states tells an organ procurement organization that you are near death and are a viable donor:

If you don’t sign up with DoNotTransplant.com	If you do sign up with DoNotTransplant.com
The OPO will search all organ donor registries that operate where you live to see if you’ve signed up to be a donor. They won’t find your name, because no other donor registry allows you to say “I don’t want to be a donor.”	The OPO will search all organ donor registries that operate where you live to see if you’ve signed up to be a donor. They will find your name on the DoNotTransplant.com registry.
The OPO will assume you want to be an organ donor while they search for other evidence.	The OPO is legally barred from harvesting your body parts. No one will be able to override your decision not to donate.
The OPO will instruct the hospital to hook you up to artificial life support machines to keep your body parts fresh, if you’re not already on artificial life support. This will happen even if your advance healthcare directive says you don’t want any artificial life support.
Doctors will administer drugs to maintain the viability of your organs and tissue.
Your personal effects will be searched for evidence that you’re an organ donor. If they don’t find anything, the OPO will continue to assume you want to be an organ donor.
If the OPO finds your drivers license, it will continue to assume you want to be a donor, even if the “donor” box on your driver’s license is blank.
The OPO will search for your family members. If they find any of them, they’ll ask for permission to harvest your body parts. Your family can override your decision. If a member of your family tries to uphold your wishes, other family members can still override your decision.
If no member of your family is found, a bureaucrat will be asked for permission to harvest your body parts. The bureaucrat will give permission.
After a diagnosis of “brain death” or cardiac death” you will be administered anesthesia, your body will be cut open, and your body parts will be removed. Some doctors think removing your organs will be what really kills you.

DoNotTransplant.com maintains an online registry of people who don't want to donate. In most states, OPOs are required to check our registry before harvesting your organs and tissue. If they find your name on our list, they are legally barred from harvesting your organs and tissue, even if they get permission to do so from your family.

In other states, OPOs who want your organs and tissue can take them in many circumstances if your decision not to donate has not been properly documented in writing. DoNotTransplant.com provides legal documents that declare your decision not to donate. These documents are personalized and customized. You can give them to family members, lawyers, doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers.

To the transplant industry, your dead body is a very valuable sack of parts. The organ and tissue donation system is designed to maximize the supply of body parts for the transplant industry. It is not designed to protect the rights of people who don't want to donate. DoNotTransplant.com is designed to protect your rights.

If you become a potential organ donor due to accident or injury, someone will talk to your family about harvesting your organs and tissue. This conversation couldn't come at a worse time for your grieving family. Your family may be asked embarrassing questions about your personal lifestyle, your sexual history, and other sensitive subjects. If one member of your family refuses to donate your organs and tissue, other family members may be asked for their permission. All of this can be avoided if your decision not to donate is properly documented. The documents provided by DoNotTransplant.com can help you get this done.

The transplant industry won't pay your burial or cremation expenses if you donate your organs and tissue for transplantation. Your funeral expenses may even go up if you donate your organs or tissue, and your family may have to pay these extra expenses. But if you donate your whole body for medical research or education, your family may be relieved of all burial or cremation expenses.

If you ever need a transplant operation, you'll have to pay for it. If you can't pay, you're out of luck.

But if you agree to donate your organs and tissue when you die, you won't get paid. All the money generated from your organs and tissue will go to doctors, hospitals, and businesses. The transplant industry can make $5 million dollars from your body parts. None of it will go to your family.

Laws that forbid paying you for your organs and tissue may change in the future. DoNotTransplant.com can help you get paid for your organs and tissue if payment is legal when you die.

If you've decided against organ and tissue donation, you must take action to make sure your decision is respected. If you don't, your organs and tissue can be harvested against your will. Leaving the "organ donor" box blank on your driver's license will not stop your organs and tissue from being harvested. "Blank" does not mean "no".

If you previously wanted to be a donor but have changed your mind, you must document that decision carefully. In most states, signing up be a donor creates a legally binding anatomical gift. So if you change your mind, you must formally revoke your anatomical gift and you must formally refuse to make a new one. DoNotTransplant.com can help you get this done.

Telling your family that you don't want to be a donor won't stop your organs and tissue from being harvested either. If your decision isn't properly documented, it can be overturned.

Sign up now to stop your organs and tissue from being harvested against your will.

Why You Should Sign Up