Organs for Sale: A New Frontier in Healthcare?
- codeofcures
- Sep 20
- 5 min read
Could legal organ sales in hospitals solve shortages, or would it create deeper inequalities? Would turning organ donation into a marketplace save more lives—or exploit the vulnerable? Should individuals have the right to profit from their own body parts, or does it cross an ethical line?
Published September 20, 2025
By Crystal Kong and Chloe Cherng, High School Students
The world faces a growing organ crisis. The demand for organ transplants continues to grow, but the supply of organs fails to keep up. Statistics for organ donation in 2023 shows that organ donors increased by about 2%, but the number of people in need of an organ increased by 47% (Taylor, 2023). Patients can wait on the transplant list for years before getting an organ. Even then, the guidelines for meeting the requirements are extremely strict. Furthermore, a transplant may not even be successful due to complications after surgery, such as infection or rejection of the foreign object.
This scarcity has resulted in numerous illegal methods to get organs. For example, desperate people seek the black market where they buy unregulated organs from regions with weak governance. This leads to human exploitation, like human trafficking, and the risk of buying unviable organs. Another method is through organ (transplant) tourism, where an organ transplant is administered from a deceased person who may not have given proper consent, failing to uphold the ethical pillar of autonomy.
Amid these ethical and logistical challenges, some have begun advocating for a legal organ market–a regulated system where individuals could sell organs under strict oversight. In this blog, we address the implications of this system.
Cons
Many arguments against legalizing organ sale exist. This market would mainly consist of rich individuals who could afford to buy it or have good insurance to purchase organs. Organ sellers would mainly be those of lower socioeconomic groups, thus exacerbating the wealth gap. With a desire to earn money from organ selling, organ donations would essentially become nonexistent. Donations would be less likely, as individuals would prefer to sell rather than donate, as a chance to make money would not be disregarded. Therefore, poorer individuals would be less likely to receive an organ transplant, decreasing their standard of living.
Additionally, if a legalized system is in place, flaws are always bound to exist. Corruption can occur, especially in areas with weaker enforcement. For instance, there is concern about the poor quality of organs due to the incentive to sell. Donors may conceal health issues that could potentially affect the organ they wish to sell. Furthermore, due to the demand for organs, the government or healthcare clinics may allow for an organ to be sold and a transplant to take place regardless of quality, thus potentially compromising the health of recipients.
A term known as transplant tourism is the practice of travelling outside of country borders to purchase organs from donors in other countries. If organ sales are legalized, an international market would be created. Patients are more likely to travel to another country because it can be cheaper, faster, or more accessible than in their home country. Furthermore, vulnerable populations in developing countries are more likely to be the main source of organs. Domestic patients in poorer countries are also more likely to lose access to organs because foreign buyers are more likely to be able to pay more for organs, worsening healthcare inequalities. In addition to this, black market practices may occur, with middlemen exploiting both donors and patients. Ultimately, the quality and access to care are lowered for vulnerable populations.
How would a legal organ market benefit society?
On the other hand, a legal organ market would provide a multitude of benefits. Firstly, it would incentivize people to give their organs to save many lives. In doing so, it would alleviate human suffering, shortening the time someone is on the transplant list.
In addition, it would unpopularize the use of illegal methods. Having a legal system would help improve trust that they are receiving a good-quality organ, in contrast to organs collected from the black market.
Ethically, this system would uphold the pillar of autonomy. The system would ensure that a person is completely in control of their decision to sell their own body part.
Potential Models
A real-life example of a compensated human body market is the plasma industry. Donors are paid for donating their plasma, which helps supply life-saving medications worldwide. Aside from dizziness, fatigue, or other non-life-threatening short-term effects, donors benefit financially and have no concerning health consequences. However, the long-term health consequences of plasma donation remain unknown. This raises ethical questions about donor welfare. Despite these concerns, the plasma market demonstrates a successful real-life system that is administered through payment for human biological materials. This serves as a potential model for how a legal organ market might be feasible.
Iran is an example of a country with legalized kidney sales. Donors are compensated for giving up their organs, eliminating a waiting list for kidney transplants. The system is state regulated with transactions overseen by nonprofit organizations, reducing the possibility of corruption. Buyers/sellers are able to buy/sell kidneys for a fixed price which provides equal access to kidney transplants to all, regardless of socioeconomic status. Additionally, donors are given healthcare coverage for a period of time as well as discounted coverage. With the issue of transplant tourism, only Iranian citizens are allowed to prevent such from happening. The system is not perfect, but it has effectively eliminated long kidney transplant waitlists. This highlights how a regulated market can address shortages, though ethical concerns about exploitation and fairness will always remain.
Conclusion
The creation of a legal organ market remains largely disputed. On one hand, it could ease the global organ shortage, reduce illegal activities, and save countless lives. On the other hand, it risks exploiting vulnerable populations and further deepening the wealth gap. Ultimately, the dilemma that needs to be addressed is determining whether the benefits of increased organ availability outweigh the potential ethical implications of exacerbating healthcare inequity and the exploitation of vulnerable populations. Organ transplant waitlists would be essentially eliminated, but this question remains unanswered: Would legalizing organ sales reduce black market activities, or create a mirrored system where exploitation still persists?
Works Cited
Jones, S.-A. (2020, December 8). A legal organ market: Should it exist?. UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog. https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2020/12/16/a-legal-organ-market-should-it-exist/
Major, R. W. L. (2008, January). Paying kidney donors: Time to follow Iran?. McGill journal of medicine : MJM : an international forum for the advancement of medical sciences by students. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2322914/
Marino, I. R., Cirillo, C., & Cattoi, A. (2002, October 12). Ethical market in organs. market of organs is unethical under any circumstances. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1124335/
Ramanathan, M. (2025, August 17). Should we legalise human organ markets to solve the organ crisis?. Medium. https://medium.com/@muthuramanathan_/should-we-legalise-human-organ-markets-to-solve-the-organ-crisis-6d8306185291
Taylor, R. (2023, December). Organ donation in England and the UK: Statistics and law changes - house of lords library. UK Parliament. https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/organ-donation-in-england-and-the-uk-statistics-and-law-changes/
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