Transplant social workers are often tasked with ensuring that donor candidates understand the psychological risks that can accompany the physical risks of living donation. Francia Raisa, Selena Gomez’s kidney donor, recently opened up to provide a candid description of her journey with physical and psychological recovery since living donation.
“[I was told in a pre-surgery conversation that] it’s going to be hard, the recipient is going to glow and she’s going to recover a lot faster than the donor because she’s getting something she needs and you are losing something you don’t need to lose. It’s going to be hard,” the 29-year-old Grown-ish actress explained in a new video interview with Self. “And it was hard…Selena and I both went through a depression. She had some complications with hers and has bigger scars than I do that wasn’t expected.”
Since sharing their story, Gomez and Raisa have brought a great deal of positive attention to the topic of living donation. In doing so, they have also highlighted important considerations that living donor candidates should be thoroughly counseled on prior to surgery, and throughout the recovery process — thereby emphasizing the importance of social workers (March is National Social Work Month) as part of the multidisciplinary transplant team.
