I’m an organ donor. (You should be too!) I was talking to my mother about the relative merits of getting a tattoo, and she insists that you can’t ever donate your organs if you get one. I’ve been looking all over Google and nothing I’ve read mentions this, but I thought that I’d run it past you all to get the final confirmation.
So can I get that Celtic trinity on my shoulder or just have someone draw it on with a sharpie?
I haven’t heard that one before, and I can’t find any info on that specifically, but you might want to check out Shareyourlife.org which, I believe, is the official organ donor program site. Might be helpful.
Red Cross says you can’t donate blood for 12 months after getting a tattoo. I can’t find anything about organs.
Recent information on the epidemiology of tattoo wearers has pretty much dispelled the prevailing “wisdom” about the rates of blood born illnesses among those with tatoos, compared with those without them.
The CDC has not entirely lifted its concerns about tattoo procedures, but it no longer considers the procedure itself to be a risk, only the failure to properly follow sterile procedures. (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/faq/faq27.htm"]Link
Body art proponants claim that dentistry has a higher rate of infection for Hepatitis than tatooing. I cannot verify that.
“In my opinion, there’s nothing in this world, Beats a '52 Vincent, and a red headed girl.” ~ Richard Thompson ~
If you don’t have hep or anything else, I don’t see why you couldn’t donate.
I plan to donate, and I plan to (finally) get my tattoo.
I’m signed up as an organ donor as well as being registered with HLA Registry Foundation (blood marrow). My tattoos were not an issues in either case.
My girlfriend has just been doing a bit of research on this. It appears that since organ donations are so needed and so rare, that they’re willing to take just about anyone’s as long as the organ itself is healthy.
Specifically, tattoos are not a barrier to organ donation.
Now I’m imagining getting skin grafts with other people’s tattoos on them… interesting…