Wait or Buy?
Matthew is ten years old and has kidney failure. He has been put on the list for a kidney transplant even though he has been on dialysis for a year and has been responding well to the treatment. The doctors say that he could receive a kidney by age thirteen because he is responding to treatment, but he could take a turn for the worst at any time. Matthew's father finds out about a system where he could pay someone for a matching kidney to keep his son alive.
While Matthew’s father sees this as a potential option, this system is illegal in the United States and many other countries around the world. Five to ten percent of all organ transplants are obtained through an organ trade (“Is It Ever Right” 36). Organ trade is also known as organ trafficking. To better understand organ trafficking, it’s best to know what it is, to what extent it occurs, and what consequences there are for traffickers, victims, and recipients.
In order to know more about this concept, it is important to know the definition of organ trafficking:
Organ trafficking entails the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, of a position of vulnerability, of giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation by the removal of organs, tissues, or cells for transplantation. (Budiani-Saberi and Delmonico 925)
This definition captures the amount of exploitation used in soliciting a donor in an illegal organ trade (Budiani and Delmonico 926). The exploitation can bring up many ethical and health concerns surrounding the trafficking of human organs. “There is a global shortage of organs for transplants” (“Is It Ever Right” 36). For this reason, organ trafficking has become an option for many with organ failure. This illegal organ market has capitalized on an individual's desperation for an organ.
Unfortunately, this trade is prolific and occurs on a continuous basis even though it is illegal. The World Health Organization estimates 63,000 organs obtained in the organ trade market (“Is It Ever Right” 36). The organ trafficking scheme is illegal in every country. At the same time, Iran is the only country in which there is regulated organ sale (“Is It Ever Right” 38). Organ trafficking in the United States, China, and Europe are the worst problem areas of trafficking in the world (Chen 134). Budiani-Saberi and Delmonico, professors at University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Medical School, made a model of an international organ trade and what it may look like. There are typically four different variations. The model is simply this: a recipient travels from country B to country A, where the donor is located. Additionally, the donor can travel from country A to country B, where the recipient is located. The donor and recipient can travel from country A to country B, where the transplant is performed. Finally, the donor from country A and the recipient from country B can both travel to country C, where the transplant is performed.
The demand for organs is immensely high. “In 2013 a total of 121,272 Americans were waiting for an organ, while 28,954 people had received an organ and 14,257 others had donated one. Unless some of the donors had given two or more organs, roughly 14,697 people had obtained their organs illegally” (Scutti). The true extent of organ trafficking is difficult to target due to organ laundering, “which is when the illegal purchase of organs appears to be legal transactions” (Scutti). Unless nations work together on this issue, many more people, in some cases the recipients as well as the donors, may become victims of this agonizing situation.
Since organ trafficking is illegal, the people who commit this kind of crime have to face the consequences. “Organ trafficking violates fundamental human rights, such as the rights to life, liberty, security in person, and freedom from cruel or inhumane treatment” (Cholia). Those who purchase organs are likely to have falsified the transaction, saying a relative donated the organ (Scutti). The recipients of an illegal organ tend to fare worse than those who have received one legally. This may be due to poor medical resources and facilities because operations are kept off the record. They are at an increased risk of contracting transmissible diseases (Samadi), post and preoperative complications, and poor follow-up care. Recipients who experience these postoperative difficulties may be concerned about seeking help for fear of legal consequences.
Additionally, those who give away their organs may be ambivalent or reluctant to talk due to a fear of prosecution (Scutti). Poverty and corruption are underlying themes behind most victim donors, which often makes donating organs a financially appealing option. Furthermore, the victims are more likely to be members of vulnerable populations, causing them to be ignorant to all the legal and medical downfalls. Although the donor receives a payment, they may not account for postoperative care and complications, leaving them with spending more money than received (Scutti). This often leaves the traffickers benefiting the most financially.
This high return business opportunity, certainly comes with high risks. The legal consequences of traffickers can reach up to 25 years to life in prison (Scutti). The organ trafficking cartel is not limited to ordinary criminals. In New Jersey, the arrest of forty-four people including state legislators, government officials, and several rabbis for running an international human organ trade (Cholia). How can we expect desperate families to seek legal routes for medical donation, when elected officials are benefiting from the illegal route? Where else is this occurring? With important community members involved with this business, it’s evident that organ trafficking is a problem that impacts everyone.
While organ traffickers have the potential to profit greatly, recipients and donors are left at even more significant risk and liability. Not only are donors and recipients left to health risks, they too are liable for legal prosecution. Organ trafficking affects all areas of the world, and the consequences for the people involved differ from country to country. To help prevent organ trafficking, it is important to know what it means, to what degree it affects the world, victims, recipients, and traffickers. Remember Matthew? During his illegal operation, he experienced some complications, and he was not able to receive the kidney at all. His father was faced with the choice of risking his own life to purchase a kidney on the black market, which would save his son, or risk his son's life and wait for a legal donor that may never come. In this case, his father took the risk that led to his arrest shortly after Matthew's operation.

Works Cited
Budiani-Saberi, D.A and F.L. Delmonico. "Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism: A Commentary on the Global Realities." American Journal of Transplantation 8.5 (2008): 925-929. EBSCO MegaFile. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
Chen, K. “Debates and Implications for Human Organ Trafficking.” Public Administration
Review. 74 (2014): 133-135. EBSCO MEga FILE. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
Cholia, Ami. "Illegal Organ Trafficking Poses A Global Problem." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. .
"Is It Ever Right To Buy Or Sell Human Organs?." New Internationalist 436 (2010): 36-38. EBSCO MegaFILE. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
Samadi, David Dr. "Consequences of the Rise in Illegal Organ Trafficking." Fox News. FOX News Network, 30 May 2012. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. .
Scutti, Susan. "Illegal Organ Transplants Are On The Rise Around The World." Medical Daily. 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. .