{"id":3050,"date":"2026-09-24T13:14:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T13:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/?p=3050"},"modified":"2026-10-10T08:43:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T08:43:21","slug":"kidney-transplant-in-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/turkiy\u0259d\u0259-boyr\u0259k-transplantasiyasi\/","title":{"rendered":"Kidney Transplant in T\u00fcrkiye"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3050\" class=\"elementor elementor-3050\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d1cd76 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"6d1cd76\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-972626e elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"972626e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"bh\">\n\n<section class=\"hero\">\n  <div class=\"in\">\n    <p class=\"eyebrow\">Kidney transplantation \u00b7 T\u00fcrkiye<\/p>\n    <h1>Why do so many patients travel to T\u00fcrkiye for a kidney transplant?<\/h1>\n    <p class=\"lead\">Because of one thing above all: living donation. T\u00fcrkiye performs more living\n       donor kidney transplants per person than any other country \u2014 which means a transplant can be\n       planned rather than waited for. Here are the published numbers, the law that protects the\n       donor, and what you should check before choosing anywhere.<\/p>\n    <p class=\"meta\">Based on registry data, peer-reviewed studies and Turkish legislation<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section class=\"wrap\">\n\n  <div class=\"ozet\">\n    <h2>The short answer<\/h2>\n    <ul>\n      <li><b>More than 80%<\/b> of kidney transplants in T\u00fcrkiye come from <b>living donors<\/b>.<\/li>\n      <li>In 2023 T\u00fcrkiye had the <b>highest living kidney donation rate in the world<\/b> \u2014 over\n          35 donors per million people.<\/li>\n      <li>With a living donor you <b>do not wait<\/b> on a list for a kidney that may never come.<\/li>\n      <li>If your relative is not a match, T\u00fcrkiye runs a national <b>paired exchange<\/b> programme\n          \u2014 2,067 exchange transplants between 2012 and 2023.<\/li>\n      <li>Turkish law <b>bans the sale of organs<\/b> and allows living donation only from a spouse\n          or close relatives \u2014 or with ethics committee approval.<\/li>\n    <\/ul>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <h2>The reason is living donation<\/h2>\n\n  <p>In most countries a patient with kidney failure joins a waiting list and stays on dialysis,\n     sometimes for years, hoping a deceased donor kidney becomes available. Deceased donation in\n     T\u00fcrkiye has remained low, so transplant teams built their programmes around\n     <b>living donors<\/b> \u2014 usually a family member who donates one kidney and lives normally with\n     the other.<\/p>\n\n  <p>The result is a scale of experience few countries have:<\/p>\n\n  <div class=\"tblwrap\">\n    <table>\n      <thead>\n        <tr><th>What was measured<\/th><th>Figure<\/th><\/tr>\n      <\/thead>\n      <tbody>\n        <tr><td>Share of kidney transplants from living donors<\/td><td><b>Over 80%<\/b><\/td><\/tr>\n        <tr><td>Living kidney donation rate, 2023<\/td><td><b>Highest in the world<\/b> \u2014 over 35 donors per million population<\/td><\/tr>\n        <tr><td>Living donor kidney transplant rate, Europe<\/td><td><b>39 per million<\/b> \u2014 the highest of any European country<\/td><\/tr>\n        <tr><td>Global ranking, living donor kidney transplants<\/td><td><b>Third<\/b>, after India and the United States<\/td><\/tr>\n        <tr><td>Paired exchange transplants, 2012\u20132023<\/td><td><b>2,067<\/b> \u2014 6.3% of all living donor kidney transplants<\/td><\/tr>\n      <\/tbody>\n    <\/table>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <p>For a patient who has a willing and suitable family donor, this changes the equation\n     completely: the transplant becomes something you <b>plan<\/b>, not something you wait for.<\/p>\n\n  <div class=\"box\">\n    <span class=\"etiket\">Coming from abroad: plan for a living donor<\/span>\n    <p>In practice, patients travelling to T\u00fcrkiye receive a kidney from a <b>living donor who comes\n      with them<\/b>. If you do not have a potential donor in your family, tell us before anything\n      else \u2014 it changes what is possible, and we would rather say so at the start than after you\n      have travelled.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <h2>Your guide to kidney transplantation<\/h2>\n\n  <p>These guides were written by our medical team and reviewed by a transplant physician. Start\n     with whichever question is yours.<\/p>\n\n  <h3>Can I have a transplant?<\/h3>\n  <ul>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/who-cannot-have-a-kidney-transplant\/\">Who cannot have a kidney transplant<\/a> \u2014\n        the genuine barriers, and the ones that turn out not to be<\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/kidney-transplant-with-diabetes\/\">Kidney transplant with diabetes<\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/hepatitis-b-or-c-and-kidney-transplant\/\">Hepatitis B or C and kidney transplant<\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/kidney-transplant-age-weight-second-transplant\/\">Age, weight and a second transplant<\/a><\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n\n  <h3>Finding a donor<\/h3>\n  <ul>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/kidney-transplant-compatibility\/\">Blood group and tissue matching<\/a> \u2014 what has to\n        match, and what does not<\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/blood-type-incompatible-kidney-transplant\/\">When blood types do not match<\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/paired-exchange-kidney-transplant\/\">Paired exchange: swapping donors between families<\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/kidney-donor-what-happens-to-you\/\">What happens to the donor<\/a> \u2014 the risks, honestly<\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n\n  <h3>Before and after<\/h3>\n  <ul>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/preemptive-kidney-transplant\/\">Transplant before dialysis starts<\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/kidney-transplant-timeline-tests-hospital-stay\/\">The timeline: tests, hospital stay, going home<\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/kidney-transplant-myths\/\">Eleven things people believe that are not true<\/a><\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n\n  <h2>How Turkish law protects donors<\/h2>\n\n  <p>Where living donation is this common, protecting the donor has to be strict. In T\u00fcrkiye it is\n     written into law.<\/p>\n\n  <ul>\n    <li><b>Selling an organ is illegal.<\/b> Organs may not be taken or sold for money or any other\n        benefit (Law No. 2238, Article 3).<\/li>\n    <li><b>The donor must be an adult<\/b> able to make their own decision (Article 5), and consent\n        must be given in writing, before witnesses, and confirmed by a doctor (Article 6).<\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n\n  <h3>Who can be your donor<\/h3>\n\n  <div class=\"tblwrap\">\n    <table>\n      <thead>\n        <tr><th>Donor<\/th><th>Rule<\/th><\/tr>\n      <\/thead>\n      <tbody>\n        <tr><td><b>Your spouse<\/b><\/td><td>Married for at least 2 years \u2014 unless the illness was diagnosed after the marriage<\/td><\/tr>\n        <tr><td><b>Blood relatives<\/b> up to the fourth degree<\/td><td>Parents, children, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, first cousins<\/td><\/tr>\n        <tr><td><b>Relatives by marriage<\/b> up to the fourth degree<\/td><td>Allowed<\/td><\/tr>\n        <tr><td><b>Anyone else<\/b><\/td><td>Only with approval from a provincial <b>ethics committee<\/b><\/td><\/tr>\n      <\/tbody>\n    <\/table>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <p>For a donor who is not a close relative, the ethics committee file must show <b>where the\n     relationship comes from<\/b> \u2014 with photographs, letters or official documents \u2014 along with\n     statements of <b>income<\/b> and whether the donor is <b>in debt<\/b>. The committee is looking\n     for exactly the warning signs of a paid donor.<\/p>\n\n  <div class=\"soru\">\n    <h3>What if my relative's kidney is not a match?<\/h3>\n    <p>This is common, and it is not the end of the road. T\u00fcrkiye runs a national <b>paired\n      exchange<\/b> programme: two families whose donors do not match their own patient swap donors.\n      Matching is done only through the Ministry of Health's national software system \u2014 matching\n      outside it is prohibited \u2014 and each donor must still be a spouse or relative of their own\n      patient.<\/p>\n    <p>Between 2012 and 2023, <b>2,067<\/b> kidney transplants in T\u00fcrkiye were carried out this way.<\/p>\n    <p><a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/paired-exchange-kidney-transplant\/\">How paired exchange works \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <h2>What to check before you choose a centre<\/h2>\n\n  <p>The numbers above describe a country. They say nothing about the particular hospital you are\n     considering. Check these yourself:<\/p>\n\n  <ol>\n    <li><b>Official authorisation.<\/b> Hospitals treating international patients must hold an\n        international health tourism authorisation certificate from the Turkish Ministry of Health.\n        The Ministry publishes the list of authorised hospitals.<\/li>\n    <li><b>Living donor volume.<\/b> Ask how many living donor kidney transplants the team performs\n        each year, and what its donor complication rate is.<\/li>\n    <li><b>Results for your condition.<\/b> Ask for outcomes in patients like you \u2014 not a single\n        headline success rate.<\/li>\n    <li><b>Complication insurance.<\/b> Ask what happens \u2014 and who pays \u2014 if a complication needs\n        extra treatment or a longer stay. Complication insurance is arranged by the patient; if you\n        have a policy, check exactly what it covers.<\/li>\n    <li><b>Follow-up at home.<\/b> Ask who will look after you once you return to your own country,\n        and how results will be shared with the transplant team.<\/li>\n    <li><b>Anyone offering a donor for money is breaking the law.<\/b> Walk away.<\/li>\n    <li><b>If you use a medical travel company, check its authorisation too.<\/b> Companies arranging\n        treatment for international patients in T\u00fcrkiye must hold an international health tourism\n        facilitator authorisation. BookingHospital holds this authorisation \u2014 certificate number\n        <b>AK-0496<\/b> \u2014 registered with <b>USHA\u015e<\/b> and a member of <b>T\u00dcRSAB<\/b>. You can check it\n        yourself on the official <b>HealthT\u00fcrkiye<\/b> platform, where it is listed under its\n        registered name, <b>Moc Health Sa\u011fl\u0131k Turizm (Bookinhospital.com Dan\u0131\u015fmanl\u0131k ve Tic. Ltd.\n        \u015eti.)<\/b>.<\/li>\n  <\/ol>\n\n  <h2>What BookingHospital does<\/h2>\n\n  <p>BookingHospital is not a hospital. It is an authorised facilitator that works between you and\n     the transplant team, from the first report to the follow-up after you go home:<\/p>\n\n  <ul>\n    <li><b>Reviewing your reports<\/b> before you travel, and telling you honestly whether an\n        evaluation is worthwhile \u2014 including when the answer is no.<\/li>\n    <li><b>An interpreter<\/b>, so that you and your donor understand every conversation with the\n        medical team.<\/li>\n    <li><b>Accommodation and transfers<\/b> for the patient, the donor and accompanying family.<\/li>\n    <li><b>Complication insurance, if you want it<\/b> \u2014 we can arrange a policy for you before you\n        travel.<\/li>\n    <li><b>Ev\u0259 qay\u0131td\u0131qdan sonra davam etm\u0259k<\/b> \u2014 sharing your test results with the transplant team\n        so your treatment can be adjusted from here.<\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n\n  <div class=\"box efsane\">\n    <span class=\"etiket\">The trap<\/span>\n    <p><b>Choosing on price alone.<\/b><\/p>\n    <p>Cost is a real consideration for most families, and it should be. But two centres with\n      similar prices can have very different experience with living donors \u2014 and it is the donor's\n      safety that depends on it. Compare the answers to the questions above first, then compare\n      prices.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <div class=\"yazar\">\n    <div class=\"rozet\">MT<\/div>\n    <div>\n      <h3>Medically reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/murat-tuncer-md\/\" style=\"color:inherit\">Prof. Dr. Murat Tuncer<\/a><\/h3>\n      <p>Professor of Internal Medicine and Nephrology. He has worked in kidney transplantation since\n        1998 and is founding president of the Istanbul Organ Transplantation Association. His team\n        handles the preparation for transplantation and the follow-up; the operation itself is\n        performed by the transplant surgeons.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <div class=\"cta\">\n    <h2>Have a family member willing to donate? Start here<\/h2>\n    <p>Send the patient's latest reports and tell us who the potential donor is and how you are\n       related. We will tell you honestly what is possible \u2014 including when the answer is no.<\/p>\n    <div class=\"btns\">\n      <a class=\"btn btn-1\" href=\"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/tibbi-turizm\/\">Send your medical reports<\/a>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <div class=\"uyari\">\n    <p><b>Medical and legal disclaimer.<\/b> This article is general information based on published\n      data and Turkish legislation as of September 2026. It is not medical or legal advice, and it\n      cannot replace assessment by a transplant team. Rules on donor eligibility are applied by the\n      transplant centre and, where required, the ethics committee.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <div class=\"kaynak\">\n    <h3>References<\/h3>\n    <ol>\n      <li>ERA Registry. Living and deceased donor kidney transplant rates across Europe \u2014\n        Figure of the month, 2025.<\/li>\n      <li>Sarigol Ordin Y, Ayten Kankaya E, Celik B. Ten-year trends in kidney transplantation by\n        donor type, age, dialysis and sex\/gender inequality in T\u00fcrkiye. <i>Progress in\n        Transplantation<\/i> 2026.<\/li>\n      <li>European Kidney Transplant Association (ESOT). Landscape of current practices and future\n        perspectives in living donor kidney donation in Europe \u2014 proceedings of a pan-European\n        symposium, 2025.<\/li>\n      <li>Republic of T\u00fcrkiye. Law No. 2238 on the Removal, Storage, Grafting and Transplantation of\n        Organs and Tissues.<\/li>\n      <li>Republic of T\u00fcrkiye, Ministry of Health. Organ Transplantation Services Regulation.\n        Official Gazette No. 32038, 9 December 2022 (as amended).<\/li>\n      <li>Republic of T\u00fcrkiye, Ministry of Health. Regulation on International Health Tourism and\n        Tourist Health. Official Gazette No. 32882, 26 April 2025.<\/li>\n    <\/ol>\n  <\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kidney transplantation \u00b7 T\u00fcrkiye Why do so many patients travel to T\u00fcrkiye for a kidney transplant? Because of one thing above all: living donation. T\u00fcrkiye performs more living donor kidney transplants per person than any other country \u2014 which means a transplant can be planned rather than waited for. Here are the published numbers, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_joinchat":{"message_text":"Hello \ud83d\udc4b\n===\nConsidering a kidney transplant in T\u00fcrkiye? Our transplant medical team can review your situation.\n===\nSend us a message with your country and whether you have a possible donor.","message_send":"Hello, I'd like information about kidney transplant in T\u00fcrkiye. Country: \u2026 Possible donor: \u2026"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3050"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3062,"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions\/3062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookinghospital.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}