Become an Organ Donor in Ohio

You have three options. The fastest is to register online through the official Ohio BMV donor portal in under two minutes. You can also say "yes" when you renew your driver's license, permit, or state ID at the BMV, or you can mail in the Ohio Donor Registry Enrollment Form. All three options add you to the same secure Ohio Donor Registry and are equally legally binding.

Online registration through the Ohio BMV portal takes under two minutes for most people. You'll need your Ohio driver's license number, OH|ID account, or full legal name and date of birth. Mail-in registration takes 5–7 business days from the date the BMV receives your form.

Yes. There is no cost to register, ever. Donation itself is also free for your family — Lifebanc and the receiving transplant centers cover all donation-related medical costs.

You need a valid Ohio driver's license, permit, or state ID to register through the Ohio system. If you live in another state, register through your home state's donor registry or through the National Donate Life Registry at registerme.org.

In Ohio, anyone 15½ or older can register independently on the Ohio Donor Registry. For registered donors under 18, a parent or guardian retains the right to amend the decision in the event of the minor's death. For children younger than 15½, parents can contact Lifebanc directly to discuss options.

No. There is no upper age limit for donation. The oldest organ donor in the United States was 92. Eligibility is decided at the time of death based on the condition of your organs, not your age.

No. Your medical team's only priority is saving your life. They do not have access to your donor registry status during treatment. Donation is only considered after all life-saving measures have been exhausted and death has been declared. The transplant team is completely separate from the team treating you.

Yes. Donation is performed with the same care and respect as any surgery. Donors are treated with dignity, and an open-casket funeral is absolutely possible. Donation does not delay funeral arrangements.

No. There is zero cost to your family for the donation itself. Lifebanc and the receiving transplant centers cover all donation-related costs. Your family is responsible only for your end-of-life medical care and funeral arrangements — costs they'd have either way.

No. Ohio is a first-person consent state, which means your registration is legally binding once you sign up. Your family cannot override your decision. Telling them ahead of time isn't legally required, but it makes a difficult moment much easier for them.

Visit the Ohio BMV donor portal at bmvonline.dps.ohio.gov and log in the same way you did to register. You can update or remove your registration at any time, no questions asked. Your family does not need to be notified to make a change.

All major world religions — including Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism — publicly support organ, eye, and tissue donation as an act of charity and love. If you have specific concerns, your clergy can offer guidance. Lifebanc also publishes denomination-specific perspectives on our Religion and Donation page.

In most cases, yes. People with diabetes, high blood pressure, hepatitis, and even some cancers have been organ donors. The medical team evaluates eligibility organ-by-organ at the time of death — there's no medical history that automatically disqualifies you from registering.

Deceased donation occurs after death and is what registering on the Ohio Donor Registry covers. Living donation — most commonly a kidney or part of a liver donated to a friend, family member, or stranger on the waiting list — is a separate process that requires its own application and medical evaluation. Visit our Living Donation page to learn more.

The national United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) matching system identifies recipients based on medical urgency, blood type, body size, time on the waiting list, and geographic proximity. Income, race, fame, and social status are not factors. The system is designed to be blind to who you are.

Donor and recipient identities remain confidential. However, donor families and recipients may exchange anonymous letters through Lifebanc, and in cases where both sides consent, in-person meetings are sometimes arranged. Lifebanc's Donor Family Services team coordinates all communication.

No. Your registration on the Ohio Donor Registry is independent of your driver's license. Renewing or replacing your license does not affect your donor status. (However, the heart symbol on your card is reprinted each time, so you'll see it on every new card.)

Yes. The National Donate Life Registry (registerme.org) shares its data with state registries, including Ohio's. However, registering directly with the Ohio BMV is the most reliable way for Ohio first-person consent law to apply to your decision.

If you don't have an Ohio driver's license, permit, or state ID, you can register by mail using the Ohio Donor Registry Enrollment Form. The form is available on our website and through any Lifebanc office.

Lifebanc is the federally designated Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) for Northeast Ohio's 20 counties — the nonprofit responsible for coordinating organ, eye, and tissue recovery across more than 80 hospitals serving 4 million people. We don't manage the registry (that's the Ohio BMV), but we facilitate every recovery, support every donor family, and lead community education and outreach across the region.

Lifebanc serves the 20 counties of Northeast Ohio, including Cuyahoga, Summit, Lorain, Lake, Geauga, Medina, Portage, Stark, Wayne, Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Erie, Holmes, Huron, Mahoning, Richland, Trumbull, and Tuscarawas.

Yes. Tattoos and piercings do not disqualify you from being an organ, eye, or tissue donor.

Yes. Lifestyle factors like diet, smoking status, alcohol use, and body weight do not automatically disqualify you. Eligibility is determined organ-by-organ at the time of death based on the health of your individual organs.

Living donation is a separate process from registering on the Ohio Donor Registry. To explore living kidney or liver donation, visit our Living Donation page or contact a transplant center directly (Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and Ohio State Wexner Medical Center all have living donor programs).