Long before kidney donor Carol Offen was a donation advocate and co-author of The Insider’s Guide to Living Kidney Donation, she was a writer and an editor. After college, she worked as a country music magazine editor and writer before moving to France with her husband and giving birth to her son. For nearly a decade she wrote freelance articles on French actresses, dining, travel, and other topics, which appeared in Esquire, Vogue, Family Circle, and the International Herald Tribune; several were syndicated worldwide.

When her family returned to the United States in the mid-80s, they settled in North Carolina, where her daughter was born. As a book editor, she has enjoyed a wide range of genres, from outdoors books to scholarly publishing. She later worked for 15 years at an independent research institute, where she edited mostly health-related materials for a lay audience.

In 2006 she donated her kidney to her adult son and has been passionate about encouraging living donation ever since.  Retirement has allowed her more time to devote to being a donation advocate.

She has written numerous articles and blog posts including at her blog, Could You Be a Kidney Donor? What to Expect If You Give the Greatest Gift. Offen was the lead author of a “Patients’ Foreword” for a major textbook for transplant professionals, Living Kidney Donation. As a National Kidney Foundation advocate and UNOS Ambassador, she’s lobbied members of Congress and state legislators to advance support and protections for living donors and kidney patients. Born and raised in New York City, since 1985 she has lived in Carrboro, North Carolina, with her husband.

Her articles will also appear at the Second Chance News Center in a joint effort to help amplify the need for living organ donors.

Kidney Stat