Hi, Im interested in giving just not sure if I can... The only thing that im concerned with is im active duty military... Does this make me ineligible to give?
Over the years there have been a couple of active-duty military persons on this site who donated a kidney and then returned to active duty. But it may take some extra time and effort. There are many military bases, and at some they are familiar with this situation while others have never dealt with it as yet. So an initial negative response can sometimes be changed if you can get them to research and look into the matter more.
best wishes,
Fr. Pat
I found this question posted "Kidney donation while on active duty."
It's from 2011 so things may have changed since then.
http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/56819558/m/1160004372001
Here's an article from 2009 of one service member donating a kidney to another
"Soldier donates life saving kidney"
http://www.army.mil/article/19462/soldier-donates-life-saving-kidney/
Another forum with the question asked "Can a military person be a living kidney donor?"
http://www.corpsman.com/forum/showthread.php?85908-Can-a-military-person-be-a-living-kidney-donor
Here's an article from 2012 "Commanders share wing missions, kidney donation"
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123317582
Last year an active duty married couple participated in a kidney paired donation exchange
"Walter Reed Bethesda Participates In The Military's First National Kidney Swap"
http://www.dcmilitary.com/article/20120816/NEWS11/708169953/walter-reed-bethesda-participates-in-the-militarys-first-national
Hope that helps!
Dear born2give,
Karol's post reminded me that I was going to suggest that, whatever the administrative, operational, and other complications, a military donor would make wonderful copy for the Public Affairs officer to showcase the community spirit of military personnel. Hopefully, that will ease your way as you face whatever hurdles the military might arrange for you. And, since you're hoping to do such a wonderful good deed, I see no reason not to call such a point to your commanders' attention, if necesssary.
Good luck!
Snoopy
PS--You came to the right place: LDO is a fantastic source of information for learning about donating.