Donate Life Month: How Organ Donation Is Helping To Make Me A Mom!

Here is a semi off topic post. But really it is also about adoption in a way.

You see, April is Donate Life month and I am a two time kidney transplant recipient.Thanks to two living donors, my mom in 1999- when I was only 19, and my brother in 2010, I will get to be a mom through open adoption some day. In fact, I have three friends who are transplant recipients AND adoptive moms! Talk about motivation! I guess this is kind of a "me" centric post, but for a good reason. To put a face to transplantation. To show what kind of life you can give someone by being an organ donor. Being a living donor, or by registering to be an organ donor after your time is up, saves lives.

Thanks to two living donors, I get to live a healthy and quite normal life. Without them, I would be sick at best. It would be really difficult to pursue adoption and be a mom. Could it be done? Of course, but without having my health it would be more of a struggle. Without them, John and I would not be where we are today.

My mom, me, my brother Noah at the 2014 NKF Kidney Walk

Our first walk ever as Team Walking Beans in 2008!

I love organ donation and all things transplant. I love donors and their families, recipients, people waiting for transplants, and the people willing to be educated about transplantation and being an organ donor. And.... I  really love stats! Here are some stats, taken from donatelife.net:

Currently, nearly 124,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants in the United States. For specific numbers visit unos.org

• Approximately 71,219 Multicultural Patients*
• Approximately 1,911 Pediatric Patients*
• 28,953 Organ Transplants Performed in 2013
• 14,257 Organ Donors in 2013
• More than 47,000 corneas were transplanted in 2013
• More than 1 million tissue transplants are done each year and the surgical need for tissue has been steadily rising.
*as of January 2015

Because of organ donation, I have a chance to be the best version of myself. To show that transplant doesn't stop you from being a regular human being, but it does motivate you to be an exceptional human being. To show that you can accomplish just as much as anyone, if not more, after transplant. That giving up is never an option. Because you can go on to finish college, have a career, ADOPT A BABY and live an excellent, fulfilling life.

You can:

Graduate from school

Run races!

Look at old pictures of you and your donor and think "wow, that kid grew up to do something wonderful!" (nom nom nom ...hand!)

Get married!

Do your part to help other transplant recipients and raise awareness! (My dad!)

Show off your awesome scars! (If you can't tell, that is my lower left and middle abdomen and hip bone).

Fall completely in love with being an aunt!

And dream every day and every night of when you get to put your own little one down to sleep in this nursery.

I am thankful. I am overwhelmingly happy that I get to be a mom soon, because I am healthy. Thanks to organ donation, my dreams will come true and goals will always be met. 

This year's NKF Kidney Walk is on May 30th. It takes a very small amount of your morning to come out and walk with us. Join our team, Team Walking Beans here: My personal walk page! All funds raised go to the National Kidney Foundation. Their programs educate the community and support patients with kidney disease.

What I am saying here is, you can make a difference by signing up to be an organ donor. You can change lives and even save lives. For more about how I feel about kidney transplant and our adoption read You have a what? Whoa.