The Gift of Life
Writing to Your Loved One’s Transplant Recipients
Many donor families want to reach out to their loved one’s recipient or recipients. Some want to meet them in person and share information about the donor. For many, learning that their loved one’s organs, eyes or tissue changed or saved a life is extremely validating and can help with grief and provide a sense of hope. We highly encourage contact between donor families and their recipients, who might want to say thank you but are reluctant to reach out on their own. This can be done at any time after the transplant has taken place.
Getting Started
Because of patient confidentiality laws, the first step in the process involves writing a note or letter that Gift of Life will send on your behalf to the recipient's transplant hospital. If the recipient wishes to have future contact, he or she will respond through Gift of Life.
Initiating Contact
To meet your recipients, we ask that you’ve first established some contact through anonymous correspondence, then both of you must complete an authorization form.
Guidelines
How to Initiate Contact With Your Donor's Recipient
- If you aren’t sure what to say, send a simple “thinking of you” card, ask them how they’re doing and wait for a response.
- Share the story of your loved one and feel free to give general information about occupations, interests, etc. Don’t include any identifying information, such as last name, city, employer or name of the hospital where your family member donated.
- On a separate piece of paper list the donor's name, your full name, address and phone number. This will enable Gift of Life staff to pass your correspondence on to your family member’s recipients.
Mail your correspondence to:
Gift of Life Michigan
Attn: Family Support
3861 Research Park Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Alternatively, you can type your letter into a Word document and email it to: familysupport@golm.org