Son Donates Part of Liver to His Father

Jan. 25, 2007 — -- John Foster's 25-year-old son, Mark, knew his father was dying.

The two had a complicated relationship because of Mark's belief that he could never live up to his father's expectations, a notion that fueled years of adolescent angst and rebellious acts.

"I'd get poor grades in school. I'd just try to passively aggressively undermine them [my parents] at every turn," Mark said.

John needed a new liver. His wife, Alice, and his doctor believed his liver was ravaged by a combination of Hepatitis C and alcohol, though John says he was merely a "social drinker."

With time running out, Mark became the most likely candidate to save his father's life. It was hardly an easy decision, though.

"I was scared to be a donor because, I mean, just the enormous amount of evidence of things that could go wrong," Mark said.

Roughly 17,000 Americans are waiting for a liver transplant, and the demand for organs keeps rising. The supply of donated organs, however, is not keeping pace.

In many cases, living donors have stepped in to fill the gap. More than 300 adult-to-adult live liver transplants are performed in the United States every year .

Of those, three donors have died, and there are other serious health risks.

ABC News medical contributor Dr. Timothy Johnson says that the rate of further complications after an operation is 10 percent to 15 percent. But, he adds, success rates are improving.

"In 2005, for the first time, doctors had better outcomes with live donations than with cadavers," Johnson said. "And the reason for this is that surgeons are getting better at it."

The timing of the operation can also be managed better, he said.

"You don't have a recipient waiting until the last possible moment, so they are less sick and have a better recovery rate," Johnson said.

Alice said she was against her son going through with the operation. She said that in a way, she felt like she had to choose between husband and son.

"It looked like, 'OK, Mr. Foster. There's no hope for you.' But my son steps up, who I love and cherish, and goes through all this and says, 'I'm willing to do it.' And I think, oh no, this can't be happening," she said.