Maria: Liver Donor Liver Transplant

“I donated part of my liver to my son and would do it five more times.”

After the diagnosis, which came within a month of his birth, we realized that the only treatment there was a transplant. I am a doctor, my husband is too, so I had no doubts: I wanted to be the donor, as a mother I had already passed on my genetic heritage, plus the waiting time would be much shorter.

We wanted to receive the best care and so from Moscow we arrived at ISMETT in Palermo to be cared for by Professor Jean de Ville. It wasn't easy, we got the visa for medical reasons but the problem was the travel: before we could get there in a few hours, now it takes a whole day, you have to make a very wide tour and also from the economic point of view it is very expensive.

We arrived in January 2022 and in February we had the surgery, it was easier to go to the operating room than to wait for an organ, when I woke up everything was done. As a donor I had very good care, the first two days were heavy, but pain therapy helped me a lot, now I am fine.

What went beyond my expectations, however, was the change in my son; today he is 7 months old and a different child. Already immediately after the surgery the rebirth took place: he no longer had the yellow complexion he had before, both his skin and eyes were visibly improved, they were white.

By the fifth day he was smiling, he was livelier, you could see he was not in pain. After one month my son became a healthy baby, sleeping and eating well. I gave part of me to my child by giving him life, giving him an opportunity to live, it is a beautiful feeling and only in this way can I explain the depth of our relationship. We will stay in Palermo until before the summer, until the doctors deem his condition stable.

Back home in Moscow, my husband and two other children are waiting for us; they are eager to hug their brother again and have decided that we will celebrate his birthday twice, on the day of his birth and the day of his rebirth.