More than 90 000 individuals in the US are currently on a kidney transplant waiting list, with an average wait of 3 to 5 years or longer. Every year, thousands of patients are removed from the waiting list because they die or become too sick for transplant. Demand far exceeds the available supply.1 In 2023, US hospitals performed 27 000 kidney transplants, including about 6300 donations from living donors. Although deceased donations steadily increased from 8200 in 2001 to 21 000 in 2023, living donations have remained at roughly 6000 annually.2

Macis, M., & Plummer, E. (2025). How to increase living kidney donation—a tale of two donors. JAMA Internal Medicine, 185(2), 133-134.