Organ and tissue donation

The donor law applies to all people aged 18 and over who are registered with a Dutch municipality. They are:

• Residents with Dutch nationality
• Foreigners in the Netherlands

Young people who turn 18 will receive a letter asking them to enter their choice in the donor register.

Foreigners are asked to fill in their choice in the Donor Register 3 years after they have come to live in the Netherlands. If they want to register earlier, they can.

If you become incapacitated, your legal representative will make a choice on your behalf about organ or tissue donation.

In the register, you can make four choices:

1. Yes, I want to become a donor. You can indicate which organs and tissues you want to donate.
2. No, I don't want to be a donor.
3. My partner or family decides after my death.
4. I appoint one person who decides after my death.

If you do not fill in a choice, you will be listed in the Donor Register with 'no objection to organ donation'. In this way, you give permission to donate your organs and tissues to another patient after death. This is only possible if you die in hospital in an intensive care unit.

A doctor always first discusses the choice in the Donor Register with your family or surviving relatives. In principle, your family members must accept it if you had no objection to donating organs or tissues. But if your family can prove that you did not want to be an organ donor, the organ donation will not go through.

It happens that the doctors do not use your organs or tissue. These are then used for research. In this examination, the doctors learn more about transplantation. If you do not want this, you can indicate this in the donor register.

You can change your choice in the donor register at any time. This is possible with DigiD.

The Donor Register Home | Donor Registry

The Donor Information Line: 0900 - 821 21 66.

Available Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

info@donorregister.nl 

vragen@transplantatiestichting.nl 

All about organ and tissue donation | NTS (transplantatiestichting.nl)

Another option is to make your body available to science. You then have to give permission to an anatomical institute in a handwritten codicil. It states:

• that you give your body to science after you die
• your signature
• the date of signing

The anatomical institute will keep your codicil and send you and your doctor a copy. Keep in mind that your body will not be returned to the next of kin and therefore only a funeral can take place without burial or cremation.

How do I make my body available to science after death? | Rijksoverheid.nl

You can make the choice to only make your heart and brain available. Your body will then be returned to the family, so that a burial or cremation can take place.

Register a heart Registration donor Heart Bank

Brain Login Register for Brain Donation | The Netherlands Brain Bank