The organ transplantation from a living donor: The motivation to donate and to receive a kidney

The aim of this work is to better understand the motivation that distinguish kidney transplantation from living donors because there is a lack in literature regarding this topic and previous researches show a low level of consciousness regarding the motivations to donate and to receive a kidney. The research technic used is focus group, the ideal technic to explore a specific set of unknown issues, such as motivation for kidney transplantation from living. We conducted 2 different group discussions: one with donors and one with recipients, comprising 12 participants. The sessions were conducted by the authors. Each discussion (lasted approximately 2 hours) was video-recorded and then transcribed. The analysis were conducted with T-Lab. The results highlight like previous recipients and donors view and have experienced living donation: they consider absolutely normal to donate and to receive, but this normality depends on the specific kind of relationship between the people involved. In this sense the motivation is strictly connected with the bond between donor and recipient.