Liver transplantation · Turkey
Why do so many patients travel to Turkey for a liver transplant?
Cost matters to every family, and it is part of the answer. But the reason that stands up to scrutiny is one specific kind of experience — and a legal system built around protecting the donor. Here are the published numbers, and what you should check before choosing anywhere.
The short answer
- Most liver transplants in Turkey come from living donors — 1,776 in 2019 alone, 80% of all liver transplants that year.
- With a living donor, you do not wait for a deceased donor liver that may never come.
- Turkish law bans the sale of organs and allows living donation only from a spouse or close relatives — or with ethics committee approval.
- Before choosing, check the hospital's official authorisation, ask how many living donor transplants the team performs, and ask about complication insurance.
The reason is living donation
In many countries, a patient needing a new liver joins a waiting list and hopes that a deceased donor liver becomes available in time. In Turkey, deceased organ donation has remained low. Transplant teams responded by building their programmes around living donors — usually a family member who gives part of their liver, which then regrows.
The result is experience at a scale few countries have:
| What was measured | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Liver transplants in Turkey, 2002–2014 | 7,152 — 67.8% from living donors | Akbulut & Yilmaz, 2015 |
| Liver transplant centres in Turkey (2014) | 45 | Akbulut & Yilmaz, 2015 |
| Living donor liver transplants in Turkey, 2019 | 1,776 — 80.3% of all liver transplants | Gökçe & Alkan, 2023 |
| One Turkish centre, 2002–2025 | 4,011 transplants — 86.8% living donor, 244 paired exchanges | Yavuz Baskiran & Yilmaz, 2026 |
A 2023 study using international registry and Ministry of Health data reported that in 2019, Turkey performed more living donor liver transplants than any other country.
For a patient who has a willing and suitable family donor, a centre with deep living donor experience changes the equation: the transplant can be planned, rather than waited for.
Why the team's experience matters — especially for the donor
Giving part of a liver is major surgery for a healthy person. A worldwide survey of more than 11,000 living liver donors found a donor death rate of 0.2% — and that rate was similar regardless of how experienced the programme was.
But experience made a difference elsewhere. Potentially life-threatening "near-miss" events and operations that had to be stopped part-way were more likely in programmes that had performed 50 or fewer living donor transplants. That is a question worth asking any centre, in any country.
How Turkish law protects donors
Where living donation is common, the protection of the donor has to be strict. In Turkey it is written into law.
- Selling an organ is illegal. Organs may not be taken or sold for money or any other benefit (Law No. 2238, Article 3).
- The donor must be an adult able to make their own decision (Article 5), and consent must be given in writing, before witnesses, and confirmed by a doctor (Article 6).
Who can be your donor
| Donor | Rule |
|---|---|
| Your spouse | Married for at least 2 years — unless the illness was diagnosed after the marriage |
| Blood relatives up to the fourth degree | Parents, children, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, first cousins |
| Relatives by marriage up to the fourth degree | Allowed |
| Anyone else | Only with approval from a provincial ethics committee |
For a donor who is not a close relative, the ethics committee file must show where the relationship comes from — with photographs, letters or official documents — along with statements of income and whether the donor is in debt. The committee is looking for exactly the warning signs of a paid donor.
What if my relative's liver is not a match?
Turkey runs paired exchange: two families whose donors do not match their own patient swap donors. Matching is done only through the Ministry of Health's national software system — matching outside it is prohibited — and each donor must still be a spouse or relative of their own patient.
In practice, patients travelling to Turkey receive a transplant from a living donor who comes with them. If you do not have a potential donor in your family, tell us before anything else — it changes what is possible.
What to check before you choose a centre
The numbers above describe a country. They say nothing about the particular hospital you are considering. Check these yourself:
- Official authorisation. Hospitals treating international patients must hold an international health tourism authorisation certificate from the Turkish Ministry of Health. The Ministry publishes the list of authorised hospitals.
- Living donor volume. Ask how many living donor liver transplants the team performs each year, and what its donor complication rate is.
- Results for your condition. Ask for outcomes in patients like you — not a single headline success rate.
- Complication insurance. Ask what happens — and who pays — if a complication needs extra treatment or a longer stay. Complication insurance is arranged by the patient; if you have a policy, check exactly what it covers.
- Follow-up at home. Ask who will look after you once you return to your own country, and how results will be shared with the transplant team.
- Anyone offering a donor for money is breaking the law. Walk away.
- If you use a medical travel company, check its authorisation too. Companies arranging treatment for international patients in Turkey must hold an international health tourism facilitator authorisation. BookingHospital holds this authorisation — certificate number AK-0496 — registered with USHAŞ (the Ministry of Health's international health services company) and a member of TÜRSAB (the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies). You can check it yourself on the official HealthTürkiye platform, where it is listed under its registered name, Moc Health Sağlık Turizm (Bookinhospital.com Danışmanlık ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.).
What BookingHospital does
BookingHospital is not a hospital. It is an authorised facilitator that works between you and the transplant team, from the first report to the follow-up after you go home:
- Reviewing your reports before you travel, and telling you honestly whether an evaluation is worthwhile — including when the answer is no.
- An interpreter, so that you and your donor understand every conversation with the medical team.
- Accommodation and transfers for the patient, the donor and accompanying family.
- Complication insurance, if you want it — we can arrange a policy for you before you travel.
- Follow-up after you return home — sharing your test results with the transplant team so your treatment can be adjusted from here.
Choosing on price alone.
Cost is a real consideration for most families, and it should be. But two centres with similar prices can have very different experience with living donors. Compare the answers to the questions above first — then compare prices.
Medically reviewed by Prof. Dr. Murat Tuncer
Nephrologist and transplant physician. This guide was prepared by the BookingHospital medical team from published registry data, peer-reviewed studies and Turkish legislation.
Have a family member willing to donate? Start here
Send the patient's latest reports and tell us who the potential donor is and how you are related. We will tell you honestly what is possible — including when the answer is no.
Medical and legal disclaimer. This article is general information based on published data and Turkish legislation as of September 2026. It is not medical or legal advice, and it cannot replace assessment by a transplant team. Rules on donor eligibility are applied by the transplant centre and, where required, the ethics committee.
References
- Akbulut S, Yilmaz S. Liver transplantation in Turkey: historical review and future perspectives. Transplant Rev (Orlando) 2015;29(3):161–167.
- Gökçe ON, Alkan S. Contribution of Turkey in liver transplant research: a Scopus database search. Exp Clin Transplant 2023;21(5):415–421.
- Yavuz Baskiran D, Yilmaz S. A 23-year comprehensive analysis of over 4000 liver transplants in Türkiye. Healthcare (Basel) 2026;14(2):163.
- Cheah YL, Simpson MA, Pomposelli JJ, Pomfret EA. Incidence of death and potentially life-threatening near-miss events in living donor hepatic lobectomy: a world-wide survey. Liver Transpl 2013;19(5):499–506.
- Republic of Türkiye. Law No. 2238 on the Removal, Storage, Grafting and Transplantation of Organs and Tissues.
- Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Health. Organ Transplantation Services Regulation. Official Gazette No. 32038, 9 December 2022 (as amended).
- Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Health. Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health. Official Gazette No. 32882, 26 April 2025.
