5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Organ Transplants

Organ transplants are a necessity. When organ transplant is the only difference between life and death or life laden with physical and other complications, there cannot really be any two sides of the argument debating the advantages and disadvantages. However, there are some pros and cons of organ transplants that must be discussed in a pragmatic way.

List of Pros of Organ Transplants

1. Life Saver, Facilitator of Better Life
Organ transplant is a life saver, in other words a life giver. Today, a person with an ailing liver, failing kidneys or heart can hope to live with an organ transplant. A blind person can see. An ailing person may become healthy. There is a myriad of amazing stories from around the world, countless lives being saved or changed for the better. Organ transplants don’t just benefit the recipient but also changes the lives of their loved ones.

2. Furthering Science
Organ transplants are a medical marvel. Works of innumerable people over the centuries have contributed to the modern methods of organ donation and transplant. The present methods are also a phase in further evolution of medical science. What was known about and understood of organ transplant a decade or two ago has evolved and today processes are safer, doctors know much more about most organs and this is a continuous process of getting better. Organ transplant thus plays a significant role in furthering our understanding of our own body and hence it advances medical science as we know it.

3. Unmatched Act of Kindness
Organ transplants allow people with perfectly good organs to donate them so someone can live or have a better life. Many people pledge to donate their organs when they die. This is not only an act of kindness but it is almost godly. There can be no greater joy or even accomplishment than to save someone’s life or to improve someone’s life, even if that person is a complete stranger.

List of Cons of Organ Transplants

1. Possible Risks
Organ transplants require surgery. These surgeries are always invasive. There are substantial risks of organ transplants. It is possible a surgery can go wrong, a particular body can reject an organ, there can be side effects after the procedure is done and a new organ doesn’t always assure a better life. There are case studies where people have died even after a successful organ transplant.

2. The Uncertain Wait
The waiting for an organ can be painful. A recipient may wait forever. The organ may not be available in time. The wait is also painful for the family of a deceased donor. A deceased person will be put on life support and shall be kept under observation and in waiting till the organ or organs are meticulously removed.

Author Bio
Natalie Regoli is a child of God, devoted wife, and mother of two boys. She has a Master's Degree in Law from The University of Texas. Natalie has been published in several national journals and has been practicing law for 18 years.