Archive · 19 Aug 2026
Interfaith Kidney Swap in Gujarat Saves Two Lives
Two families needed kidney transplants for their sick relatives.
One family was Hindu, and the other was Muslim.
The donors in each family could not donate directly to their own loved one.
Doctors discovered that each donor could instead help the recipient from the other family.
The families agreed to exchange kidneys to save both patients.
Doctors performed the two operations at the same time in Ahmedabad.
Both patients improved, and the donors also recovered well.
The families said kindness and humanity were more important than religious differences.
A Hindu family and a Muslim family exchanged kidney donors in Ahmedabad.
The two recipients, aged 45 and 42, had end-stage renal disease.
Neither recipient could receive a medically compatible kidney from their own family.
Doctors at Sterling Hospital performed both transplant operations simultaneously.
Both recipients and donors recovered successfully and were discharged.
- Who
- A 45-year-old Hindu man from Ahmedabad and a 42-year-old Muslim man from Udaipur, along with donors from their families.
- What
- An interfaith kidney-swap transplant in which donors from each family donated to the recipient in the other family.
- When
- The articles do not specify the date of the surgeries or discharge.
- Where
- Sterling Hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
- Why
- Direct donations within both families were medically incompatible, while cross-family matching made the transplants possible.
- Recipients
- A 45-year-old Hindu man from Ahmedabad and a 42-year-old Muslim man from Udaipur.
- Medical condition
- Both recipients required transplants because of end-stage renal disease.
- Transplant arrangement
- Donors from each family were compatible matches for the recipient from the other family.
- Hospital
- Sterling Hospital in Ahmedabad.
- Recipient outcomes
- Both recipients showed clinical improvement, with serum creatinine levels of 1.26 mg/dL and 1.30 mg/dL at discharge.
- Donor outcomes
- Both donors recovered smoothly, and all parties were discharged safely.
- Medical leadership
- The surgeries were led by Dr Sonal Dalal, Dr Javed Vakil, Dr Ketan Shukla, Dr Himanshu Patel, Dr Bhavin Mehataliya, Dr Apoorva Parekh, and Transplant Coordinator Rahil Shah.