Renal allograft procurement from living unrelated donors in Iran: What falls under the eclipse

Table 1 Examples of advertisements from kidney sellers and buyers on an official website in Iran[6]

Buyers’ advertisements	Sellers’ advertisements
Kidney buyer; blood group O+; man or woman; please only people with HLA reports contact; otherwise let’s not waste each other’s time (Tehran)	Kidney for sale; 42 yr old; blood group B+; due to financial crisis; no tobacco; no alcohol; bicycling each day for hours; and body works as infallible as a watch (East Azerbaijan)
Kidney buyer; blood group O; our patient is under dialysis and medical conditions is rapidly deteriorating; unemployed; lives in a renting house; some people promised helping; let’s help for God’s sake and his wife and children (Markazi)	Kidney for sale; 35 yr old man; blood group O+; me and my wife (blood group B+) both are ready to sell our kidneys; HLA testing ready for both; only recipients contact not dealers (brokers) (Tehran)
Kidney buyer; blood group O; I am under dialysis with complications; for God’s sake help me to get free of dialysis; I also have financial problems; the seller preferably a man less than 35 (West Azerbaijan)	Kidney for sale; 39 yr old man; HLA and ultrasonography tests are ready; no history of any disease; family consent ready; I need money for my kid’s illness; price would be fair and just (Kurdistan)
Kidney buyer; blood group AB; please don’t give “mind blowing” price so I can prepare it (East Azerbaijan)	Kidney for sale; 24 yr old woman; married; family consent ready; all tests and HLA report ready; ultrasonography report ready; weight; no tobacco; healthy in every aspect (Tehran)
Kidney buyer; blood group O+; applicants must have HLA report and family consent ready; age less than 30; I’d pay the hospital costs and tests would be paid after the procedure; (Mazandaran)	Kidney for sale; 32 yr old; all tests (HLA, CTA, United States, & cardiologist letter) ready; hospital costs and labs should be covered by the buyer; price fair & with mutual consent (Mazandaran)
Kidney buyer; blood group A+; urgent need for a kidney; seller should have all the tests ready; age less than 30; powerful body; no user of tobacco; alcohol or other junks; preferably from Tehran (Khuzestan)	Kidney, liver and all other purchasable organs for sale; 40 yr old man; blood group A+; HLA test ready; at service wherever on the earth for the procedure; people with financial problems please don’t contact! (Tehran)
I am highly experienced in kidney transplantation; ready to give consultation services to both buyers and sellers; contact me! (Tehran)	Kidney for sale; blood group AB; 31 yr old; I am in debt and can’t pay for my house renting; please contact (West Azerbaijan)

Although in the introduction of the living unrelated kidney transplantation in Iran it is declared that all the hospital costs would be totally paid by the government[1], yet in the advertisements, the kidney sellers and buyers are talking about who should pay for the hospital costs. HLA: Human leukocyte antigen; CTA: Computed tomography angiography.