I am a retired nurse. I spent a number of years of my career as a living donor kidney coordinator. It was my job to get the donor through the workup process and make sure they were 110% on board. I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt - our center would have turned you away. The fact that you were ambivalent about donating & the primary caregiver for a special needs child would have made you ineligible to donate. The medical community is very careful about subjecting healthy people to operations they don't need for their own well being. Please trust me on this - you would not have been allowed to 'save' your birth mother. And also - please check the statistics on kidney transplant. Because the immune suppression meds are cleared through the kidneys - they burn them up. Kidney transplants usually last a few years - not a lifetime.

I would not have given my kidney to my parent. I always told my friends - I'm saving my kidneys for MY KIDS. You should too. <3