Pennsylvania Parents Each Donate a Kidney to Sons
By Joann Loviglio / Associated Press
Like many parents, Qaisra and Chaudhry Ahmed would give anything to help their children. The Pennsylvania Bucks County couple, however, went far beyond what most parents will ever have to do: They each gave a kidney to their two ailing sons who needed transplants.
Their father said the decision was an easy one.
“We want them to be well, so there was absolutely no hesitation,” Chaudhry Ahmed said from the family’s home in Langhorne on July 17. “This was the best option for them, so of course we wanted to do it.”
Qaisra Ahmed, 56, donated a kidney to the couple’s older son Muhammad Haroon Ahmed, 28, in December at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Chaudhry Ahmed, also 56, donated a kidney to younger son Muhammad Ahmed, 17, on July 3 at the same hospital.
A spokeswoman for a national organ donation group said she had never heard of a similar situation. One of the doctors involved in both operations said it is the first such case he or his colleagues have seen at the hospital, which performs some 1,500 kidney transplants a year.
“The part that struck us is that every member of the family is directly connected to the transplant process. There is a lot of faith involved for both parents to take that chance,” said Dr. Vincent Armenti, the surgeon who implanted the kidneys in each son. Dr. Donald Dafoe removed the parents’ kidneys to be transplanted.
Qaisra Ahmed was found to be a suitable transplant match to both her sons, and the initial plan was for her to donate her kidney to the younger son. But then — during testing last year to determine which of the three family members would be the best donor for the younger son — the older son was diagnosed with renal failure.
That’s when plans changed. Qaisra Ahmed became the donor for the elder son and Chaudhry Ahmed — whose kidney was compatible only with the younger son — became his donor. Both are recovering well.
“You can’t even tell he’s had a transplant,” Chaudhry Ahmed said. “Physically, emotionally, he’s doing very well.”
The 17-year-old graduated from Neshaminy High School in June and plans to study computer engineering at Drexel University in the fall.
“It won’t affect his studies at all,” said Chaudhry Ahmed, an ecologist for the World Conservation Union. He said his older son, a financial analyst who was back at work by February, and his wife, a former biology professor in the couple’s native Pakistan, are fully recovered.
Doctors are unsure what caused the brothers’ kidney failure and more testing is recommended to determine a cause, Armenti said.
Cutting-Edge Medicine
As transplant waiting lists get longer, more organ donations are coming from living family members or others who are transplant-compatible, United Network for Organ Sharing spokeswoman Anne Paschke said.
Of 13,290 kidney transplants last year in the United States, 5,227 — about 40 percent — came from living donors. In 1990, there were 9,358 transplants and 2,094 — just 22 percent — came from living donors, according to the group.
The months- to years-long wait for a kidney is a factor of blood type and tissue type, as well as the success of the procedure. Since the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, it has become far more common, but the number of donated kidneys has not increased to keep pace, she said.
As a result — and because patients getting kidneys from live donors instead of cadavers tend to fare better and get their kidneys more quickly, often before dialysis is needed — more people are choosing “pre-emptive” options like the Ahmeds, Armenti said.
“Both boys are on anti-rejection medications and are checked regularly. Their prognosis is very good,” he said. “For the parents, it’s just a matter of recovering; their single kidney takes on the job of two.”
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