Writing to Families

Writing Your Letter to Your Donor Family: Tips and Ideas

• Recipients may choose to write to their donor family to tell a little about themselves, and the impact donation has had on their lives and the lives of their families. Donor families often welcome and appreciate these details;
• We recommend you do not disclose any identifying or direct contact information until you get a feel for your donor’s family and how you feel about corresponding with them. While Infinite Legacy does not restrict this information, we do want to make sure you have considered all the potential outcomes of making such a disclosure;
• Due to increasing use of social media sites and other online search capabilities, the range of information making you “identifiable” has greatly increased. If you disclose the same information that you have written on a social media page or blog, your recipient may be able to locate you online;
• Prior to sending your letter, Infinite Legacy works closely with other donor programs and transplant centers to ensure donor families are ready for this next step. If we receive feedback that the family is not ready to correspond, we will immediately contact you to let you know. We appreciate your understanding of their decision and know that we will do the same for you should you ever decide you are not ready for correspondence; and
• After your initial letter is written and forwarded to the donor’s family, you may feel anxious about what happens next. Although many recipients do hear back from their donor’s family, there is no guarantee you will receive a response. Should your donor’s family choose not to write to you at this time, please do not take their decision personally.

Some information you may want to include:

• Explain how the transplant improved your health or changed your life;
• Share what things you can do now that you would not have been able to without your transplant (jogging, spending time with grandchildren, new job, etc.); and
• Provide information about things you celebrated in a whole new light (wedding, birthday, graduation, birth, etc.).

When signing your card, consider whether you’d like to sign with just your first name, or if you’d like to include your full name. Some recipients prefer to use only their first name for their first time writing to their donor family.

In order to correctly match your card to your donor family, we need your contact information to be completed in its entirety. This information is confidential and is only used by the Aftercare Team to facilitate your correspondence.

Your message will be sent to our Aftercare Team for review. From there, someone will forward the message to your donor family.