You can register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor by clicking on a link below. Click on the National Registry link if you live outside Illinois or Indiana, or if you do not have a driver’s license or state ID.
Illinois registry: If you have an Illinois state ID or driver’s license.
Indiana registry: If you have an Indiana state ID or driver’s license.
National registry: If your from another state or don’t have a state ID.
When you register as an organ/tissue donor, you are documenting your legal decision to be a life-giving donor after your death. If you are medically eligible to donate at the time of your death, Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network will work with your family or designated next-of-kin throughout the process. We will support them with information, resources, and connection for as long afterward for as your family seeks it.
Virtually anyone, regardless of age, race or gender can become an organ and tissue donor. Don’t rule yourself out. Donors are usually healthy people who have suffered a life-ending trauma and are declared legally dead. Medical eligibility to donate depends on many factors at the time of death.
No. We are completely separate from hospitals that provide you with medical care. Donation is not considered until all possible efforts to save your life have failed. The hospital contacts Gift of Hope, and we evaluate to determine whether donation is possible. If so, we speak with your family and work with them throughout the process. Donation is a surgical procedure that takes place after death.
Every major faith tradition supports donation as one of the highest gestures of humanitarianism and compassion. Many have passed resolutions or adopted positions to encourage people to consider donation and plan accordingly.
We are the not-for-profit organization responsible for coordinating organ and tissue donation and serving families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana.
Thanks to people like you who make the decision to say yes, we have worked with donors and their families to save the lives of more than 24,000 people and help hundreds of thousands more receive tissue transplants that save their lives or help them walk, heal or live a life without debilitating pain.
Do you have additional questions about registering to be an organ, eye and tissue donor?
Click here to cover everything you want to know about becoming a lifesaving organ & tissue donor.