The Indiana Donor Registry is the secure, official record of decisions about organ, tissue and eye donation within Indiana. It ensures your decision is known and honored.

How are Donor Decisions Recorded?

  • At the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV): 
    When you visit the BMV to obtain or renew an Indiana credential, you’ll be asked the donation question, and it will be captured as a registered or not registered decision. Your answer is securely recorded and sent to the Indiana Donor Registry each evening, keeping the registry up to date 365 days a year. This is how the vast majority of decisions are recorded. 

  

  • At the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) or Professional Licensing Agency (PLA): 
    When visiting the DNR or PLA online to purchase a hunting, fishing, or trapping license, or to renew a professional license, you will be asked the organ donation question. You may choose to say yes to donation or skip the question during the transaction. If you make a donation decision at that time, it is securely sent to the Indiana Donor Registry each evening 365 days a year. 

  

  • Online at Donate Life Indiana: 
    You can register at any time on the Donate Life Indiana website. When you do, your decision is automatically and securely added to the Indiana Donor Registry. 

  

  • Through the National Donor Registry: 
    This registry is managed by Donate Life America, which captures individuals’ decisions for anyone in America. These decisions are automatically added to the National Donor Registry. Decisions made through RegisterMe.org, the iPhone Health App or the Driven2SaveLives program are recorded here. 

When You Are Asked in Multiple Places

Some individuals are asked the donation question in multiple places.  

The registry reflects your most recent choice. At the time of the donation evaluation or death, the most recent decision on record is the one that is honored, regardless of source of registration. If you change your mind at any time, you can update your decision. 

How to Remove Yourself from the Indiana Donor Registry

To remove yourself from the Indiana Donor Registry, visit https://www.donatelifeindiana.org/remove-from-registry/. 

It’s important to know that the heart symbol on your license is only an indication that a person said “yes” at one transaction, but that symbol alone is not considered in Indiana as a final registered decision. All potential donors must be searched in the Indiana Donor Registry and the National Donor Registry, and the most recent decision listed in either database is the one that is honored. 

Both the Indiana Donor Registry and the National Donor Registry are consulted at the time of potential donation and the most recent decision is the decision honored. A more recent removal of yourself from the Indiana Donor Registry via the link above will effectively negate a previous “Registered” decision made through the National Donor Registry. A removal via this link will also effectively negate a “Registered” decision made through the BMV, DNA or PLA.  

Changing your decision from a “Registered” to a “Not Registered” during a credentialing transaction at the BMV will also remove you from the Indiana Donor Registry when that decision is recorded and sent to the Indiana Donor Registry the evening of your visit.  

What Happens When Someone Says Yes?

Saying yes means you’ve made a generous decision to potentially help others through organ, tissue and eye donation.   

If an individual is hospitalized with an unsurvivable injury and donation is possible, or their heart has stopped beating, the registry is consulted to determine their most recent donation decision.  If they are a registered donor, that decision cannot be overturned by anyone, even a health care proxy, power of attorney or their legal next of kin. 

What Happens When Someone Does Not Say Yes?

Saying no means you’ve opted not to make the organ, tissue and eye donation decision at the time the question is asked. However, it does not rule out the potential to make the generous gift of organ, tissue and eye donation. 

If an individual is hospitalized with an unsurvivable injury and donation is possible, or their heart has stopped beating, the registry is consulted to determine their most recent donation decision.  If they are not registered to be a donor, their legal next of kin will be consulted and will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to proceed with donation.  

  

To learn more about how donation decisions are implemented at someone’s time of death, visit the Indiana Donor Network website.