Overview
- The Bundestag, which passed the transplant law Thursday, cleared the way for paired exchanges and anonymous living kidney donations.
- The reform drops the rule that a live donation was allowed only when no post-mortem organ was available and eases the requirement for a close personal tie between donor and recipient.
- A national matching program will link incompatible donor–recipient pairs, with transplant centers coordinating and mandatory psychosocial counseling plus an independent support person for donors.
- Expert estimates in the bill project about 100 paired exchanges and roughly three non-directed donations per year, lifting living-donor kidneys from about 600 to around 700 annually.
- Reports cite 6,200 people waiting for a kidney at the end of 2025 and 253 deaths in 2024, while some politicians press for a separate opt-out system to increase post-mortem donations.