Organ Donation:: Can a Parent Donate to a Young Child?

Yes and no, some tissue and some organ donations can be done. There are some organs that cannot be donated to a child or the other way around. I don't know that list. It is one of the reasons the donor list is so long for children, you not only have to match blood type and all that but age has to be close as well.

Unless you luck into finding someone here that has been through all this I would suggest asking your doctor.
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Looking at your what happened, you cannot set the time frame. Organs are only viable for a very set amount of time. As awful as this sounds they will keep a donor on life support to keep the organs viable until the recipients are there and then they harvest.

I used to work with an organ donation program - but is was only adults. Age wasn't typically an issue if both the donor and the recipeint pass a number of health and mental screenings. If it is a planned donation like a kidney and you are a match and your organs are healthy, you can donate - this is called a living donation.

However, if you are in an accident, signed the back of your license, etc. your organs go to the person at top of list (heart, lungs, kidney, liver, corneas, etc) and they don't "bank" organs and you can't "will them" or "promise" them to people. they use them immediately if they are able.

I would encourage you, even if they can't go to YOUR kids, if the unthinkable hapens, they will go to someone's kid. You should be organ donors:)

Yes organ donations can be done parent to child and child to parent if all other criteria has been met.

It depends on the organ and whether or not the adult organ is too large for the child. Things like your liver and skin can be donated, because they don't need to be used in full.

As for the time frame, your organs are only viable for a few hours after you die. If they were going to be donated, it would have to happen immediately. As for whether or not your child's injury/condition is life threatening, I don't think people undergo organ transplants if it's not absolutely necessary to their vitality of quality of life. If you are already gone, do you really want your child to die too, just because your religion says not to donate organs?

I think "it depends". You can put the stipulation that if they can't use it/don't need it, it goes to someone on a donor list.

Depends on what you are donating. I know that live liver donors can donate adult to child - they just take less of the donor liver and both regrow. But in cases like kidneys or hearts or lungs, they won't fit and you can't keep them on ice for years. However, it is highly unlikely that unless you are talking something like marrow or part of a liver that you will be able to do this. You are thinking about a trifecta of their need + your death + your organs being compatible. I am listed as an organ donor and my family knows my wishes. But that doesn't mean I am only donating if my DD needs them.

I think the better plan is to either be a donor (or not) and make that known to your family so that if you are in that situation, they know what you wanted to do.