[Are we free to discuss the living-donor issue?]

A gift does not take place in a neutral context: every act of giving sets up a complex system of more or less constraining obligations. In the donation of an organ, it is particularly difficult to distinguish between decisions made under pressure and those made freely. This distinction is of capital importance if we admit that a donation is ethically acceptable on;y if the decision to donate is made on free and autonomous grounds. thus the duty of the transplantation team to satisfy themselves that the donor is able to make a rational decision on the basis of his free will, without moral pressure from the family. In particular, the potential donor should receive clear and understandable information about the implications of the donation. Finally, to ensure that these conditions are met, the motivation of the donor should be scrutinized and evaluated by a physician as well as a psychologist.