Organ donation is something I have felt strongly about for as long as I can remember. Even before I had other need to wear medical ID jewelry, I had a tag that simply read organ donor. Now, organ donor remains on my medical ID bracelets, alongside asthma and my emergency contact information.

Organ donation is a subject that comes up frequently on the Identity Doctor blog, because it is such an easy choice that just about everybody can make—I want to do what I can, and what WE can, at My Identity Doctor, to ensure that people have the discussion about organ donation with their families: the final choice about organ donation is left to your family, so simply having an organ donor medical ID tag is a great step but needs to be partnered with a discussion!

Many different conditions are treated with organ transplant: the conditions that can benefit form transplant are too numerous to list. In the United States, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) 118,423 patients are awaiting life-saving organ transplant [1] . I currently have a friend who is on the list waiting for a heart transplant after living for nearly three decades with a congenital heart defect, and another friend who is waiting to be listed for a lung transplant after living with severe asthma that has, over the course of 60 years, destroyed his lungs. You can learn more about Stephen and his transplant journey here.