I’ve been home in southern California for a few days now enjoying the beginning of the summer break. Today, my mother and I were channel surfing and came across this documentary about Iranians selling their kidneys to people struck with fatal diseases. It was horrifying to see unfortunate people opting to sell an organ in order to free themselves from indebtedness or to start anew. At the same time, it was heart wrenching to see people dying to get a new kidney and not having enough money to buy one. According to the video, the buyer pays the equivalent of $2,000 and the state adds $1,000 to buy a donor’s kidney. Can you really put a price on your kidney? If so, does $3,000 suffice? No, according to the sellers/donors as they all seemed to be in need of more money but agreed to the bargain out of desperation. At the same time, $2,000 is a lot of money for an ordinary Iranian to fork over, especially when the average monthly salary is $200 (according to the documentary)… and I thought I had problems.
4 Responses to Iran Kidney Sale