Driving home last night, I saw a billboard for organ donation and for the first time seeing a reminder made me feel good, rather than, "Oh, I really must do that."

Because last week I finally registered myself as an organ donor.

I've wanted to be one for years, after I realised that if I was happy to accept an organ to save my life, then it's only right that I be prepared to donate mine too.

I'm not sentimental, or squeamish or bound by any religious restrictions, so it was a fairly simple decision for me.

What I put off was talking to my family about my feelings.

The Donate Life website strongly encourages potential donors to speak to their loved ones before registering, not only because it's the loving, considerate thing to do, but because your family will be asked for consent in the event of your death, and can veto permission, which often happens when it's sprung on them unawares.

Personally, I don't think that's right, and I hope my family would not place their wishes above mine when it comes to decisions I've made about my own body.

So, I finally got around to letting them all know a few months ago, and no-one objected, but it still took me until last week to finally register my details on the Australian Organ Donor Register website.

I guess these are not the kind of things we like to think about, hey?

But now that it's done, it's one less thing niggling at the back of my mind. And it feels quite liberating knowing that I can do something amazing for many individuals and their families without doing much more than filling in an online form.

If you want to read more about it, visit www.donatelife.gov.au, or if, like me, you've been meaning to do it for ages, you can go straight to the registry at the medicare website.

xx Kiki

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