Register as a Donor
Men Under-Represented As Organ Donors
Men Under-Represented As Organ Donors
Men are not as willing as women to register as donors
Houston, Texas (Jan. 4,, 2011) -- The difference between men and women have been argued for many centuries. Gender plays an important role in decision-making, even when it comes to make the decision to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor.
According to the British Columbia Transplant Society, women are more likely than men to register as organ donors and represent more than half of those registered as organ, eye and tissue donors. Studies show that 40 percent of donors are men, but account for approximately 60 percent of transplant recipients. Currently, there are nearly 60,000 men and close to 45,000 women waiting on the national transplant waiting list in the United States.
"Why men hold back is open to speculation. Organ donation is literally the gift of life and something all men and women can do," said Janice Whaley, Managing Director of Clinical Operations for LifeGift. "There are some important factors that may affect the decision-making process."
As stated on the Website for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) in 2009, there were 28,463 organ transplants performed in the U.S. Of that total, 17,689 were done on males and 10,774 were done on females.
One of the main reasons that may contribute to why women are more likely to be organ donors is that women are often the family decision-makers and are less likely to have delusions of immortality. Because women tend to play the role of nurturer, they can easily relate to wanting to fill the need of someone else.
On the other hand, research shows that men are less eager to sign up to be donors because of society's pressure to exhibit a "macho man" mentality. As in many cases, men are often the sole bread winners, which then leads to a "man of the house" mindset. Some sources cite that men do not like thinking of themselves as not being there to provide for their families. This lends towards an anxiety and uneasiness towards donation.
Family discussion of donation has been found to double rates of family consent. It shows that prior though and intent are present. Support networks and family environments that surround these discussions are also factors. For example, if a man lives with a person who is registered as a donor, and it is discussed within a family unit, this may eventually persuade him to become a donor. The topic has been discussed and is no longer a taboo subject.
"Willingness to communicate is great, but there is still a gap between that willingness to communicate and actually putting it into practice," said Whaley. "There are pre-existing variables that come up when dealing with each family, such as race, cultural beliefs and one's own personal attitude about life."
Furthermore, studies suggest that men often weigh the credibility and persuasiveness of the message a lot stronger than women do. Not only do men have to be sold on the message, but it has to be done in record-breaking time -- like registering to become an organ donor, which takes less than five minutes. When it comes to donation, research suggests that men have to believe in what they are signing up to do and really understand the meaning, much like reading the fine print involved in a very expensive purchase.
While the Glenda P. Dawson Donate Life Texas Registry is gaining momentum and the numbers have improved dramatically, men still account for less than half of those registered as donors.
What are you waiting for? Registering to become an organ, eye and tissue donor is simple. It's free and takes less than five minutes. There are three ways to register:
Electronically via www.donatelifetexas.org
In person at the Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Online with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) when renewing vehicle registration.
For more information about LifeGift and the registry, visit ww.lifegift.org.
