One of the common requests we get at Health Tours Thailand is for organ transplantations, mainly for kidneys, livers & hearts. Getting organ transplants in Thailand is possible but there is a process which we have detailed below.
How Organ Transplantation works in Thailand.
The first part of the process is getting the required organ, and this can come from either a deceased person or a living donor. For foreigners in Thailand it is extremely difficult to get an organ from a deceased donor as Thai citizens are given priority and there are always long waiting lists. This option is basically not viable in 99% of the cases of foreigner wanting to visit Thailand for organ transplantation. For foreigners if they want to move fast, a living donor will be required. The living donor will need to be an immediate family member such as a parent, sibling, child, cousin, aunt, uncles or spouse. It should be noted that not all organ transplants from living donors require a full organ to be donated. For liver transplants, the living donor only needs to remove a small section of their liver, and have it transplanted in the recipient patient. The healthy liver will then grow for a few months until it reaches normal size. The donor in this case will suffer no long term side effects with regards to their liver and will live a completely normal life with healthy liver function.
Paperwork and Process
There is a process that can take up to 6 weeks before any organ transplantation in Thailand can proceed. The process involves testing the viability of the donor and the recipient at the hospital. In addition, getting paperwork through the appropriate foreign embassy to prove the the donor and recipient are in fact related. Due to the black market of the organ market, there are strict rules and protocols that must be adhered to – An organ transplant can only happen after it is proven that the organ being used is not from the black market and the donor and recipient are in fact family. There is a 4-5 week preliminary process to check the viability of the donor and the recipient.
Costings
There are a lot of factors involved with Organ Transplantation in Thailand and the cost can vary. The main costs revolve around the cost for the initial viability testing of the donor/recipient, the cost for the surgery of the donor, the cost for the surgery of the recipient, the cost for the required stay in the hospital afterwards and medication. At the best hospitals in Bangkok with the top surgeons in the field, it can be expected that the entire procedure, including all moving parts to be around $100,000-$150,000 USD. But the good news is that it can be done in Thailand with some of the best surgeons and equipment in the world – And lives can be saved.
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