The Surgeon Who Wanted His Kidney Back
He gave her a kidney. Then he wanted it back.
Key Facts
What Happened
Dr. Richard Batista, a surgeon at Nassau University Medical Center on Long Island, married Dawnell Batista in 1990. During their marriage, Dawnell developed serious kidney disease that required dialysis and ultimately a transplant. In June 2001, after other donor options failed, Richard donated one of his own kidneys to save his wife's life. He later stated that he did it both to save her life and to save their marriage.
The marriage did not survive. According to Richard, Dawnell began an extramarital affair approximately 18 months after receiving the transplant. In July 2005, Dawnell filed for divorce. Richard claimed he was being denied access to their three children, ages 8, 11, and 14. The divorce proceedings dragged on for nearly four years.
In January 2009, Richard went public with an extraordinary demand: he wanted Dawnell to either return the kidney or pay him $1.5 million in compensation. The claim made international headlines and ignited a fierce ethical and legal debate about whether organ donations between spouses could factor into divorce settlements.
The Nassau County Supreme Court swiftly rejected the claim, ruling that while 'marital property' covers many categories of assets, human tissues and organs are not among them. Federal law under the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 prohibits the sale of human organs, making it legally impossible to assign a monetary value to the kidney as a marital asset. Richard received no compensation for the donation, and the divorce proceeded under standard New York equitable distribution principles.
Legal Breakdown: Human organs cannot be treated as marital property in divorce proceedings
Organs as Non-Property
The court ruled that human organs fall outside the definition of marital property. Under both state and federal law, organs cannot be bought, sold, or valued as assets. The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 specifically prohibits assigning monetary value to human organs, making Richard's claim legally impossible.
Gift Law and Irrevocability
An organ donation is an irrevocable gift. Once transferred, the donor relinquishes all claims to the organ. Unlike conditional gifts such as engagement rings, organ donations have no legal mechanism for return or compensation, regardless of changes in the relationship between donor and recipient.
Equitable Distribution Considerations
While the kidney itself could not be valued, a court could theoretically consider the donation as a factor in equitable distribution, recognizing the sacrifice one spouse made for the other. However, New York courts have not adopted this approach, and the Batista case did not establish such a precedent.
What This Means for Your Divorce
- →Human organs cannot be treated as marital property or assigned monetary value in divorce proceedings
- →Organ donation is an irrevocable gift with no legal mechanism for recoupment after the fact
- →Emotional grievances, no matter how legitimate, must be channeled through legally recognized claims
- →The intersection of medical ethics and family law creates boundaries that courts are unwilling to cross
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This article is based on publicly available court records, news reports, and legal analysis. It is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this content.
Divorce laws vary by jurisdiction. Always consult a licensed attorney in your area before making legal decisions.