Women more likely to donate kidney, but not always by choice

Recently, a 36-year-old government employee in Bengaluru, whose husband was to undergo a renal transplant at a corporate hospital, had to confide in her doctor that she was not willing to donate, but was forced to do so. Sensitive to the ‘social complexities’ of Indian women donors, the doctor declared that she is “medically unfit” to donate. This saved her from forceful organ donation. But not all are as lucky. According to reports published in various medical journals, including PubMed and Indian Journal of Nephrology, wives constitute about 87 per cent of all spousal donors across India. This trend is evident in Bengaluru and Karnataka too. Lloyd Vincent, Head of the Department of Nephrology at Narayana Health City, who has also come across several such cases where women have been forced to donate, said, “Unwillingness to donate is only seen if the wife is young, independent financially or has very strong social support from her family.” Asserting that kidney donation is a safe process and the possibility of a donation affecting the woman’s lifespan or lifestyle is extremely low, Dr. Vincent said women have a lower chance of receiving haemodialysis and kidney transplant than men. However, the percentage of men donors is high when it comes to living unrelated donations as it involves money transactions, the doctor said. In Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, 65 per cent of kidney donors are women and 70 per cent of renal patients are men. “Women volunteer to donate kidneys due to economic and social factors. Greater altruism, female sense of responsibility or even coercion coupled with lack of social support are the other factors,” he said. The numbers are high in other hospitals too. While the State-run Institute of Nephro Urology has recorded women donors in the range of 65 per cent to 70 per cent, the figure is 60 per cent to 65 per cent in Manipal Hospitals. It is between 60 per cent and 70 per cent in M.S. Ramaiah Hospital, around 70 per cent in BGS Global and 71 per cent in St. John’s Medical College and Hospital. Umesh L., Nephrology HOD at the Institute of Nephro Urology, said gender inequity is common in kidney donations. “In our institute, the ratio is 9:1 (women to men),” he said, attributing the trend to greater sense of responsibility in women, economic, social and cultural factors. To mark International Women’s Day and World Kidney Day (observed on March 12), five women donors, four of whom donated to their husbands, were felicitated by doctors from Narayana Health City on Tuesday. -The Hindu