Desperate Britons are turning to Facebook to advertise their organs for sale at up to £30,000 despite the medical and legal risks involved, according to a newspaper investigation.
In the UK it is an offence under the Human Tissue Act to buy or even advertise organs for sale. This means that anyone offering to sell their own organs – even if they intend to travel abroad to have the operation – could face prison.
The Sunday Post discovered that there are people willing to take that risk. A reporter posing as the brother of a woman in need of a transplant advertised on Facebook. Within a week he had received 11 offers, two of which were from people living in the UK.
One father-of-three from the north-east of England contacted the newspaper to say that it “would be a big thing to do but for the right amount I would be willing”. A fee of £30,000 was subsequently discussed.
A 22-year-old from Northampton offered a kidney for £20,000 as he needed to return to Hungary with his pregnant fiancé.