Understanding organ donation
If you have been assessed as eligible for assisted dying, you may also be able to donate your organs and tissues. The two decisions are completely separate. Your assisted dying decision always comes first, and choosing donation, or changing your mind about it, never affects your assisted dying care.
You may be able to. What you can donate depends on your current illness, your medical history and your age. There is a range of possible donation outcomes, and some people can donate organs, tissues, or both.
Once your eligibility for assisted dying has been confirmed, you or your whānau can contact Organ Donation New Zealand to talk through what might be possible for you.
No. Your comfort and dignity are the most important aspects of your care, and donation is always a secondary consideration to assisted dying. If you change your mind about donation at any time, you can withdraw your consent and it will have no impact on your assisted death.
There is one practical difference. If you donate your organs, your assisted death and the donation will both take place in a hospital.
Assisted dying comes first. You must have requested assisted dying and been assessed as eligible by two independent medical practitioners before donation is discussed at all. Different teams are involved in each decision; the donation team plays no part in assisted dying assessments.
After the first conversation about donation, there is a reflection period of at least 48 hours before anything more happens, so you have time to consider what donation would mean for your experience.
Two nurse specialist donor coordinators will meet with you and your whānau, face-to-face or virtually, depending on your mobility and where you live. They'll share information, answer questions and assess what donation could look like for you. If you want to go ahead, you'll meet again to give your formal consent and a detailed health history. Your whānau are welcome at every step.
That's your choice. We encourage involving the people close to you in your decision to donate. Unlike other deceased donation in New Zealand, donation after assisted dying is based on your own consent, and you have the right to keep your decisions private. Our coordinators are there to support any conversations, including the cultural and spiritual needs of you and your whānau.
You can withdraw from donation, or from assisted dying, at any time. The two decisions are independent.
If you lose the capacity to consent before the assisted dying medication is administered, neither assisted dying nor donation after assisted dying will go ahead. Tissue donation after death may still be possible through the standard pathway, if that was your wish.
Donation is anonymous. Directed donation to a named person isn't offered as part of these conversations. In exceptional circumstances it may be considered case by case under ODNZ's existing policy.
Assisted dying is governed by the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and has its own strict eligibility criteria and process, separate from donation. For information about assisted dying itself, see the Ministry of Health's assisted dying pages or talk to your doctor.
If you have been assessed as eligible for assisted dying, you may also be able to donate your organs and tissues. The two decisions are completely separate. Your assisted dying decision always comes first, and choosing donation, or changing your mind about it, never affects your assisted dying care.
You may be able to. What you can donate depends on your current illness, your medical history and your age. There is a range of possible donation outcomes, and some people can donate organs, tissues, or both.
Once your eligibility for assisted dying has been confirmed, you or your whānau can contact Organ Donation New Zealand to talk through what might be possible for you.
No. Your comfort and dignity are the most important aspects of your care, and donation is always a secondary consideration to assisted dying. If you change your mind about donation at any time, you can withdraw your consent and it will have no impact on your assisted death.
There is one practical difference. If you donate your organs, your assisted death and the donation will both take place in a hospital.
Assisted dying comes first. You must have requested assisted dying and been assessed as eligible by two independent medical practitioners before donation is discussed at all. Different teams are involved in each decision; the donation team plays no part in assisted dying assessments.
After the first conversation about donation, there is a reflection period of at least 48 hours before anything more happens, so you have time to consider what donation would mean for your experience.
Two nurse specialist donor coordinators will meet with you and your whānau, face-to-face or virtually, depending on your mobility and where you live. They'll share information, answer questions and assess what donation could look like for you. If you want to go ahead, you'll meet again to give your formal consent and a detailed health history. Your whānau are welcome at every step.
That's your choice. We encourage involving the people close to you in your decision to donate. Unlike other deceased donation in New Zealand, donation after assisted dying is based on your own consent, and you have the right to keep your decisions private. Our coordinators are there to support any conversations, including the cultural and spiritual needs of you and your whānau.
You can withdraw from donation, or from assisted dying, at any time. The two decisions are independent.
If you lose the capacity to consent before the assisted dying medication is administered, neither assisted dying nor donation after assisted dying will go ahead. Tissue donation after death may still be possible through the standard pathway, if that was your wish.
Donation is anonymous. Directed donation to a named person isn't offered as part of these conversations. In exceptional circumstances it may be considered case by case under ODNZ's existing policy.
Assisted dying is governed by the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and has its own strict eligibility criteria and process, separate from donation. For information about assisted dying itself, see the Ministry of Health's assisted dying pages or talk to your doctor.