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She wanted to donate her kidney to a stranger, so this Bengaluru doctor approached the high court
The 58-year-old Bengaluru resident and a fetal medicine consultant at Manipal Hospital is now recovering at home after successfully donating her kidney to a woman, also in her 50s.
Thankam Subramonian, the organ donor, is a fetal medicine consultant at Manipal Hospital
Thankam Subramonian fought a battle for years before a successful organ transplant. Except, she wasn’t the recipient as one would imagine, but a donor to someone she never knew.
The 58-year-old Bengaluru resident and a fetal medicine consultant at Manipal Hospital is now recovering at home after successfully donating her kidney to a woman, also in her 50s.
“This has been a bit of a journey,” said her brother, Raj. “She wanted to do this since around 2014, after being inspired by a talk about organ donation at her hospital.”
But the road was paved with obstacles since 2016, as she looked at options to donate the organ directly, as opposed to being on a list for postmortem donation. “The vast majority of the family were very concerned and didn’t want her to do it at first,” said Raj. “It is the lack of awareness… The risk to longevity is less than 1%. She is a very strong-willed person.” Eventually, the family came around.
With help from her colleagues, she set out to find a recipient. “The matter went all the way up to the Manipal council. The council interviewed me, our father, and her husband. It is right to do so because of organ trafficking concerns and so on. Unfortunately, two years ago, they said they could not approve it. She was quite flustered,” Raj recalled.
Late last year, she approached the Karnataka HC. The Bench, comprising Justice Suraj Govindaraj, acknowledged the relative urgency of the matter, with a family history of diabetes creating a time-bound risk that could make the kidney unviable for donation. The judge ruled on November 25, 2025, “… when she has come forward for donating her kidney of her own free will and volition, being aware of all the aspects relating thereto, her request has to be given due credence and accepted and put in action.”
“This is one of the rare cases where the petitioner has approached this court to donate her kidney to any deserving person as an ‘altruistic donor’ without seeking compensation of any nature,” the court noted.
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On the day of the procedure, the recipient’s family was just a few hospital rooms away and came to express their gratitude. “It was very emotional; we met them, though we did not expect to,” Raj said.
Dr Thankam said she hopes her case creates awareness. “The work is still huge… More young people should come forward and also remain healthy enough to donate a kidney. I have not heard of other living donations to unrelated recipients in Karnataka, but overall, the transplant picture in India is dismal. Even among deceased organ donations, the rates are very, very low,” she said.
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