There is no minimum age to be a deceased organ donor. Newborns, children, adults, and people in their 90s have all donated organs after death. Living donation, however, requires you to be at least 18 in most of the United States, with some transplant hospitals setting the bar at 21.
The age rules differ depending on the type of donation, whether you’re alive or deceased, and where you live. Here’s how it breaks down.
Deceased Donation Has No Age Limit
If you’re registering to be an organ donor after death, age is essentially irrelevant. Anyone can sign up regardless of age or medical history. When the time comes, doctors evaluate whether your organs are healthy enough to transplant. A 70-year-old with well-functioning kidneys can be just as valuable a donor as a 25-year-old. One of the oldest organ donors on record in the U.S. was Cecil, who donated his liver at age 95 and enhanced the lives of more than 20 other people through tissue and skin donations.
The same principle applies at the other end of the spectrum. Infants can be organ donors, and neonatal organ donation has been increasing since 2012. In the UK’s NHS system, donation is considered for infants as young as 36 weeks corrected gestational age, which accounts for premature births. Heart valve donation can be considered even earlier. These decisions are made by medical teams in coordination with the family, but the point is that no baby is “too young” for donation to be possible.
Children and Teens: How Registration Works
For donors under 18, a parent or legal guardian must give permission for donation to proceed. In most states, parents or guardians make the final donation decision if a child dies before turning 18, regardless of whether the child had expressed a wish to donate.
Many states allow teenagers to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors when they get a learner’s permit or driver’s license, which typically happens around age 15 or 16. This registration signals intent, but it doesn’t override parental authority. If a minor dies, the family still has the final say. Parents can also register their children at any age. In Scotland, children under 12 need a parent or guardian’s agreement; in the rest of the UK, that threshold is 18.
Living Donation Requires You to Be 18 or Older
Living donation is a different situation entirely. You’re voluntarily giving up an organ (typically a kidney) or part of an organ (like a portion of your liver) while you’re alive. Because this involves elective surgery with real medical risks, every transplant program in the U.S. sets a minimum age. The standard cutoff is 18, though some hospitals require donors to be at least 21.
This requirement aligns with federal policy. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network introduced formal policies for evaluating living donors in 2013, and all transplant programs must specify a lower age limit for candidates. Beyond age, living donors go through extensive medical and psychological screening to confirm they’re healthy enough for surgery and are making the decision freely.
There is no upper age limit for living donation either. The determining factor is your health, not your birthday.
Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Donation
If you’re thinking about bone marrow or blood stem cell donation, the age window is more specific. You can join the national registry (managed by NMDP, formerly Be The Match) between the ages of 18 and 40. Once registered, you remain on the registry until age 61 unless you ask to be removed.
Doctors generally prefer younger donors because transplant outcomes tend to be better with younger stem cells. That said, donors between 35 and 60 are still called on when they’re the best match for a patient. The age guidelines exist to balance donor safety with transplant effectiveness.
What Actually Determines Whether You Can Donate
Age gets the most questions, but it’s rarely the deciding factor. What matters far more is the condition of your organs at the time of donation. Someone with well-managed high blood pressure at 65 may be a perfectly viable donor, while a younger person with certain infections or organ damage may not be.
For deceased donation, the medical team evaluates each organ individually after death. You might not be able to donate a heart but could still donate kidneys, corneas, or tissue. This is why registering matters regardless of your age or health status. No one can predict which organs will be usable, and that determination is always made by the medical team at the time, not by a checkbox on a form.
For living donation, the evaluation is more thorough and happens well in advance. Candidates go through blood work, imaging, and psychological assessments over weeks or months. The goal is to confirm that donating won’t put the donor’s long-term health at serious risk.