Religious altruism and organ donation

Clinicians performing psychiatric assessments of potential organ donors must consider the motivations behind an act that is--strictly in terms of its physiological implications--entirely altruistic. The authors present two case reports in which proposed kidney donors conceptualized their offers exclusively in terms of their religious beliefs and not in terms of kinship or emotional intimacy with the intended recipients. The negative reactions of some clinicians to the offers reveal the readiness with which religious beliefs can be pathologized and the way in which biological relationships can unduly restrict the clinical understanding of healthy altruism.