Motives Underlying Husband/Wife Kidney Donation: A Case Report

Renal transplantation has been developed in human over the past 50 years. The major limit in this form of renal replacement therapy is the shortage of kidney donors. It has been suggested that spouses are important sources of living-donor kidney grafts. Mental and behavioral health issues have been recognized to have important influences on the outcome of renal transplantation. Generally, the motive for donating an organ to a spouse or loved one is not apathy or guilt, but it is born out of love and great concern. We are reporting an unusual case of a renal transplant from a man to his wife in which the husband abandons the wife after the transplantation. Our aim is to emphasize the importance of psychological assessment of donors prior to transplantation.