Is there a link between organ donor and recipient?
Many patients say yes. 
One in three organ recipients reports that they have absorbed some of the personality of the donor, a research study says. And many patients are repulsed by the notion of receiving organs from "bad people". Professor Bruce Hood, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Bristol, told a conference in the UK that he had spoken with patients who reported a psychic connection. He said that in one case, a British teenager was given a heart transplant against her will because she feared that she would be "different with someone else’s heart". The patients’ concerns puzzle doctors, as conventional science has generally rejected the idea that such transference is possible. ~ BBC, June 5
Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.
Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
One thought on “Is there a link between organ donor and recipient?”
Comments are closed.
More Stories
Last Australian state finally launches ‘assisted dying’
As of November 28, eligible people in New South Wales can request “voluntary assisted dying”. NSW was the last Australian...
Two opposing conferences on population this weekend: one proudly pro-natalist, one dismally pro-extinction
Declining rates of fertility around the globe are slowly creeping into headlines and the conference circuit. This weekend, there will...
Do women suffer from depression after their abortions?
“It’s important for folks to know that abortion does not cause mental health problems,” Debra Mollen, of Texas Woman’s University,...
A sperm donor’s can of worms
Assuming that letters to Slate’s agony aunt are 100% the real deal is a bit dangerous. A failed novelist in...
Al-Jazeera investigates euthanasia in Canada
Most people are completely ignorant of how radical Canada's right-to-die legislation has become. This documentary from Al-Jazeera exposes the incredible...
Do gender-questioning kids need psychotherapy rather than hormones?
If you consult the “Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy” page of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, you will discover that...
I know a couple–the husband Ethiopian, the wife American. She donated a kidney to him. After the transplant he acquired a taste for chocolate–something she always had, but he never did. True!