I am a Female, yes.
Vision: 20/15.. I can see very clearly, yes.
Height: 5″7′ ; Weight: 142.. yes and yes.
Will I allow this body – my body – to save a life?.. no
After seventeen years of answering the same routine questions, I was caught way off guard when an MVA attendant casually asked if I wanted to register myself as an organ donor. Bearing in mind that I was a freshly licensed teen, the grand criteria from which I based my decision upon sought only to acquire the cute donor heart on my new permit.
Looking back, it is mortifying to gather exactly how I arrived at my verdict: to obtain a diminutive heart icon I forfeited the rights to my body without a second thought. I had never sincerely considered what being an organ donor meant, because I never had to. I imagine that the first time many people get confronted with the issue of organ donation is also the time when it matters, as was my case. If our country requires us to make a commitment, especially one in respect to such a profound subject, they should at least prepare us to make it.
When it came time to revisit the question just a few months ago, I found my answer had changed. Even though my understanding about organ donation scarcely grew, the little knowledge I had acquired was enough to shift my perception. As it happens, the information I had based my decision on turned out to be incorrect, and therefore I opted not to be a registered organ donor. The piece of fiction which rendered this outcome had falsely asserted that one incapable organ eliminates the potential use of all other viable counterparts. Believing I was ineligible, I truly thought I was helping by just answering ‘no.’
Unfortunately, my situation is anything but uncommon; and the number of people who support organ donation compared to the number of people who actually register to donate organs is few and far between. This disparity owes, in great part, much of its misconception to the widespread mistrust in doctors coupled with the influence of illegitimate t.v. shows. Thus, the initial theory of organ donation may sound appealing, yet the practice itself has been perceived as tainted. How can people be expected to give away a significant part of themselves when they know nothing about it, or what they do know scares them? It is small wonder why many consider the “Gift of Life” as too expensive once their interpretation has been distorted. The relatively small effort mustered to combat this damaged image, or to otherwise spread truth surrounding organ donation, further depletes the chances of 122,566 Americans from ever receiving one. To look on the bright side, the launch of a Delaware mandate (effective this year) required all high schools to incorporate new lessons into their health education classes: the topic of organ and tissue donation and transplant. These sessions are designed to provide information, counter myths, and ultimately prepare students to make an informed decision when the time comes to go to the MVA. If I had the option to partake in this opportunity, perhaps I would’ve known the gift of life was certainly one I could afford.
Unruly Bodies 