Hello,
First off, what an amazing website! I have explored it and found it most rewarding and helpful. However, my situation seems to be uncommon because I cannot find the answers I am looking for. Please do not patronize me posting this next set of information, but I feel it is medically relevant and I have taken the neccessary precautions to protect myself (some people have scolded me in the past).
I am a 15 year old girl and I would like to donate as much as possible. No family member of mine is sick, so the recipient would be anonymous. As well as bone marrow, I would very much so like to donate my kidney. I have researched all the side-effects of kidney/marrow donation, and I know I could be rejected after being screened.
Which leads me to my question - at what age can I finally donate my bone marrow, blood and kidney? All of the answers I have recieved have been vague (so far), and I was wondering if someone could help clarify as to whether or not their is an actual law against this, or if people are just wary of operating 'unneccessarily' on a young teen.
It bothers me, because unless donation at this age would absolutely be detrimental to my health, why am I being stopped? People need marrow/kidneys all the time, and I could help. Time is of the essence, isn't it? Why wait until I'm older if people are dying now?
Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and once again, a wonderful website!