Meeting “My” Recipient

This chapter talks about the process of medical tests, information sessions, and psychological evaluations after Deb Porter Gill and the author matched with on all six HLA tissue type markers. The chapter displays the author's excitement to meet Deb, however, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules preclude the hospital from disclosing a potential donor's name to an unrelated recipient. By fortunate coincidence, Deb was en route to spend a week in Kansas City when she read the author's Facebook message. They both agreed they should take advantage of this chance to meet in person. The chapter then narrates the conversation they had about writing and publishing, politics, child welfare, and everyone they knew in common.