TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
"Your voice of the transplant community"

Pgm #40: Writing to Your Donor Family

October 25, 2012
Lara Moretti
LSW, CT breavement counselor, Gift of Life Donor Progarm

Every recipient wonders about his or her donor. What was her favorite food? What did he do for a living? Who did she leave behind? Writing to the family of your donor can be a difficult but also rewarding experience. Whether a recipient hears back from the donor family or not, writing to the family is an important step in the transplant journey. Lara Moretti will speak about the letter writing process and also about the many emotions associated with corresponding with the donor family. Discussion will also include helpful tips on what to write and how some donor families and recipients meet each other. Lara S. Moretti, LSW, CT has been providing bereavement counseling and support for families of organ and tissue donors since 2003 at Gift of Life Donor Program as the supervisor of the Family Support Services department. She received her BS in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and her MS in Social Work from Columbia University in New York. Her first-year field placement as a social work student was with heart failure and heart transplant patients at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Prior to Gift of Life, Lara worked as an Employee Assistance Program specialist and as a medical social worker.