In pediatric liver transplants, living donor transplants are often the preferred option when possible, offering advantages like shorter waiting times, better graft survival, and the ability to time the surgery based on the child’s condition. In many cases family members understandably opt to be a donor. In addition, the liver's remarkable regenerative ability allows a portion of the parent's liver to be safely transplanted, with both the donor's and recipient’s livers growing back to nearly full size within a few months.

A living donor liver transplant offers the ability for a healthy living person to donate part of their liver to someone in need of a liver transplant. NewYork-Presbyterian’s Living Donor Liver Program is one of the largest in North America, offering our pediatric patients:

• Innovative transplant programs: the first transplant program in the country to offer fully laparoscopic (minimally invasive) living donor surgery.
• Highest volume and experience: nearly a quarter of our pediatric transplants are from living donors.
• A track record of success: our program has consistently exceeded the national and expected outcomes for liver transplantation.
• Superior results: All our living donor surgeries are performed robotically, leading to the best possible outcomes and faster recover times