Reema Gupta, a resident of Bihar, was heartbroken when doctors told her that she couldn’t donate her kidney to her husband Umesh Prasad, on regular dialysis, as he was suffering from acute renal failure.
But help came from Nandarani, a woman from Jharkhand, in a similar plight.
Her husband Mukesh Kumar was also suffering from that ailment, and her blood group didn’t match his.
The two women agreed to donate their kidneys to one another’s husband, authorities at the Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences told The Hindu on Wednesday.
“When blood groups of the wives didn’t match their husbands, they were very heartbroken. I had the medical records of both the patients, and introduced the couples to one another.
They discussed, and readily agreed to donate the kidneys to one another’s husbands,” said Deepak Shankar Roy, head of the Department of Nephrology.
While donating a kidney to a family member is common, this instance, where two women will be donating their kidneys to one another’s spouse is quite uncommon.
Dr. Roy said that keeping the medical records of the patients and tallying them with another proved crucial, and helped the couple arrive at a way out of the dilemma.
The necessary tests have been completed.
On Tuesday, both the women filed an affidavit before the Alipore Judicial Magistrate, expressing their willingness to donate their kidneys.
“This is an exchange,” Nandarani said after filing the affidavit.
Advocate Subhamoy Samaddar said the women have also taken permission from their respective States, Bihar and Jharkhand.
He said the two couples would approach West Bengal’s Health Department in the next few days for obtaining the final permission, following which the transplants would be carried out.
