Corresponding with donors and families

After undergoing a transplant, you may wish to reach out to the family of your organ donor. Our team is here to help.

Our donor family services team facilitates communication between donor families and recipients.

For donor families writing to a recipient

In your letter to the recipients of your loved one’s gifts of life, you can identify your loved one by his/her/their first name and include photos.

You also might wish to describe his/her/their interests or other information that you feel comfortable sharing. 

Include a separate piece of paper with your loved one’s full name and date of donation. This information is only used by UW Organ and Tissue Donation staff for identification purposes.

For recipients writing to donor families

Consider acknowledging the donor family’s loss and thanking them. You can briefly describe how long you waited for a transplant and what the wait was like for you and your family. You may also wish to share how the transplant has improved your health or changed your life.

Whenever writing, whether to a recipient or the donor family, please do not include any identifying information such as last name within the letter such as last name, address or city, social media accounts or places of employment.

The donor family services team will facilitate the communication. Please send the letters intended for the family or recipient to:

UW OTD DFS
448 Science Drive, Suite 250
Madison, WI 53711-1175
dfs@uwhealth.org

After exchanging at least one letter between the donor family and recipient(s), there are options for direct communication.