Recipient Communications

Tissue donor families may contact the Bereavement Department to receive information about the unique circumstances around correspondence and to inquire about the status of tissue donated for transplant.

Corresponding with Recipients

Organ donor families and organ recipients may exchange anonymous correspondences if this is requested  and agreeable to each.  Correspondence guidelines are available to assist in this process.  The bereavement department may be contacted to answer any questions or to obtain a printed copy of the guidelines.

The status of organ recipients is available upon request, by contacting the Bereavement Department.

As a donor family member, it is your personal choice to write or not write to your loved one's recipient(s).

Writing

If you are comfortable and decide to write, you may wish to:

• Share general information about yourself and/or your loved one including:

- Family
- Occupation
- Interests
- Special memories

• Talk about how donation has impacted you

• Express your support for the recipient's recovery

Please remember not to reveal any identifying information. Correspondences are anonymous and identities are kept confidential, so do not include last names, street addresses or cities, email addresses, phone numbers, hospital names, or photos. The religious beliefs of the recipient are unknown, so please consider this before including religious comments.

There is no time frame for corresponding and you are welcome to initiate correspondence with a recipient. If you are not comfortable writing a letter or note, a card is also an option.

Delivery

Send your correspondence to the Bereavement Coordinator at LifeBanc.  If your correspondence has an accompanying envelope, please leave it unsealed so the correspondence can be reviewed for confidentiality. You will need to include a separate sheet of paper with your name and the name and date of death of your loved one.

If you are sending letters for more than one recipient, and the letters are different, be sure to mark which letter is for which recipient. You may also send one letter to be copied for multiple recipients.

Notification

The recipient will be notified that a correspondence is available for them. If the recipient chooses to respond, the above process is reversed. Please know that if you do not hear from a recipient, it does not mean your loved one’s gift is unappreciated.

Donor families and recipients are asked to be respectful of each others’ privacy. Please know that seeking out and contacting individuals using the internet or other means may not be a welcome form of contact.

On occasion, donor family members and recipients ask to exchange identifying information. Such a request can be made in your letter to the recipient. When this is mutual, these requests can often be honored, although it is not always possible.

To talk with someone directly, please contact the LifeBanc Bereavement Coordinator at (888) 558-5433 or (216) 752-5433.