Organ Donation in Türkiye: Registration, Changing Your Wishes and the Family’s Role

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Organ Donation in Türkiye: Registration, Changing Your Wishes and the Family’s Role​

If you wish to donate after death, record your decision through an official channel, check what is recorded and understand how to change it. This differs from living donation or registering a patient for transplantation. A donor card does not mean organs can be used after every death.

⁦⁩ Who can register, and where?​

Recording a donation wish is voluntary for adults aged 18 or over with decision-making capacity, and the decision can be withdrawn. Ask an authorised unit at a provincial or district health directorate, hospital, family health centre or community health centre. Ask for the donation unit or transplant coordinator rather than assuming every reception desk completes registrations.

A declaration can cover all available organs and tissues or a selection, according to your wishes and the form. Examples include kidneys, liver, heart, lungs and pancreas, and tissues such as corneas. Record your choice accurately. Medical suitability is assessed later by the clinical team; it is not an outcome selected on the form.

⁦⁩ Register electronically or through a unit​

Electronic declarations are available through e-Nabız and e-Devlet for eligible accounts. Recording the declaration requires a verified telephone number and the authentication specified for the service, which may involve e-Devlet, a secure electronic signature or biometric verification. Do not give an intermediary your password or message code.

Read the organ and tissue options, complete the required confirmation and check the result. For an in-person route, bring identification and ask the unit about its declaration, signature, witness and document requirements. Other legally recognised declaration forms also exist. A general message or a publicly posted photograph of a card should not be treated as a substitute for accepted documentation.

⁦⁩ Check, change or cancel the record​

e-Devlet provides Organ ve Doku Bağışı Sorgulama ve İptali, the organ and tissue donation enquiry and cancellation service. Authentication is required. Its public login page does not establish the outcome of an individual registration or cancellation. Check the result after completing the process and retain the evidence available.

If changing a selection is unclear, or a card conflicts with the displayed status, ask the unit to verify the record instead of creating inconsistent declarations. Tell your family if you withdraw. Do not rely on destroying a card while an electronic declaration may remain active; confirm that the record has also been dealt with.

Situation	Practical action	What to verify
Registered electronically	Review the result and enquiry service	Identity, recorded wishes and current status
Want to change selected organs	Check available options or contact an authorised unit	The current declaration reflects your new choice
Want to withdraw	Use the enquiry and cancellation service or request cancellation through an authorised unit	Cancellation is completed rather than merely requested
Old card or missing record	Ask the unit to locate and verify the record	A missing display does not prove cancellation

⁦⁩ What happens after death?​

Deceased organ donation is not possible automatically in every place or circumstance. It is considered after brain death is established in a donor receiving ventilatory support in intensive care, with medical assessment of the organs and completion of legal procedures. A donor card does not establish that a death at home, or any other death, satisfies those requirements.

Brain death is irreversible loss of brain function and is medically distinct from coma and a vegetative state. Specialists determine it through the required clinical procedures; relatives should not infer it from the patient’s appearance or an equipment display. A declaration does not bypass assessment of death or organ suitability.

⁦⁩ The family and a valid declaration​

Where a donation wish has been validly declared and relatives disagree, the donor’s wishes take precedence. Without such a declaration, consent is sought from relatives in the legal order, taking account of any prior objection to donation. It is therefore inaccurate to say family consent always operates identically whether a valid declaration exists or not.

Discuss your wishes with your family and anyone you choose to inform, including changes or cancellation. This helps them understand your decision and communicate with the donation coordinator when needed. Records are held centrally under privacy safeguards; a public post or shared login credentials are not appropriate ways to inform the family.

Official practical guidance differs in how it describes family consent. A valid declaration remains important, but do not assume record verification and administrative implementation will be identical in every case. Ask the donation coordinator how your declaration is documented, which procedure the unit currently follows and how a disagreement between the record and relatives is handled. Avoid trying to resolve it through confrontation during a medical crisis.

⁦⁩ Foreign nationals, age and health​

A health-record account or foreign identity number does not automatically establish access to every donation-registration function. Give the unit your identification category and status and ask about the accepted registration route, documents and language assistance. If an option is missing or identification is rejected, request an appropriate official route rather than entering inaccurate details.

Do not treat registration for someone under 18 as the adult self-declaration process. Ask the specialist team about any case involving a child rather than completing an adult declaration in their name. Equally, do not decide that older age or a chronic condition makes a declaration worthless: organ suitability is a separate clinical assessment. Concealing a diagnosis or judging suitability yourself cannot replace accurate information and assessment.

⁦⁩ Six steps to organise your decision​

⁦⁩ Establish that you want a donation declaration for after death and identify any questions before registering.

⁦⁩ Confirm accepted identification, the official route, documents and authentication requirements.

⁦⁩ Read the choices, record your wishes and complete confirmation or the unit’s procedure.

⁦⁩ Check the current registration and retain available evidence securely.

⁦⁩ Inform your family and chosen contacts and update them if you change or withdraw the decision.

⁦⁩ After a change or cancellation, check the final status and ask the unit to resolve inconsistencies.

⁦⁩ Living donation and transplant requests are separate​

A declaration for donation after death does not authorise removal of an organ while you are alive. Living donation, such as a kidney or part of the liver in suitable cases, requires a transplant centre, separate medical and legal assessment, and voluntary consent. Do not arrange it through a broker or in return for payment.

If you are seeking a transplant for a patient, start with the treating team and transplant centre for assessment and the appropriate registration route. Another person’s donation declaration does not give that patient an organ, appointment or automatic priority. Organs from deceased donors are allocated through national arrangements and medical criteria, rather than selected through the declaration account.

⁦⁩ Frequently asked questions​

Can I select only some organs?
A declaration can cover all or selected organs and tissues. Check the form choices and final recorded declaration.

Can I change my mind?
Yes. Donation is voluntary. Use official cancellation or an authorised unit and check the recorded status.

Is destroying the card sufficient?
Do not rely on it alone. Verify cancellation of the record through the service or authorised unit as well.

Can my family automatically override a valid declaration?
A validly declared wish takes precedence when relatives disagree, but official practical descriptions vary. Ask the coordinator about documentation and implementation. Without a declaration, the rules on relatives’ consent apply.

Does a donor card mean organs are used after every death?
No. Medical and legal conditions and suitability assessments remain necessary.

Can every foreign national register online?
Do not assume so. Confirm the accepted identification category and route with the unit.

Does registration reserve treatment or a transplant?
No. Patient assessment, living donation and organ allocation are separate processes.

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