Organ donation

In 2022/23, organs were donated from 41 children, allowing 188 transplantations for people in desperate need of an organ transplant. However, this still left 31 children in need of a transplant waiting, and every year, children die whilst they wait for an organ donation. The consent rate for child organ donations is lower than for adults.

Unfortunately there are less organs available for children as they are size matched. This means that an organ only becomes available for a child in need, if another child is able to donate their organs when they die. We need to do more to encourage parents to donate their children’s organs

Organ donation is now available on the national curriculum and we have developed a suite of resources to help explain organ donation to children from ages 11 upwards.

Aari Patel was three when he died following an accident at home. His parents, Jay and Sina, made the instant decision to donate as many of their son’s organs as possible. Read all about Aari’s story here nhsbt.nhs.uk – Aari’s story 

Can you register a decision if you’re under the age of 18?

The new ‘opt-out’ system for organ donation assumes that everyone over the age of 18 agrees to become an organ donor, unless they have made it known they do not wish to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.

For people under the age of 18, they can still decide whether or not they want to donate their organs. You can register your organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register at any age and can change or update your decision at any time. See Resources for more information.

Page added: January 2026.