"It's so sci-fi!"

In speaking to a producer from the new Dr. Phil spin-off, "The Doctors," he said that he is learning so much in preparing for an upcoming show featuring a young woman with a heart transplant. He was amazed by the world of transplantation and innocently remarked, "It's so sci-fi!"

I sighed. To me, organ donation is dramatic and sentimental and deeply moving. It is about families who think beyond their own tragedy and consider saving the life of someone they have never met. For transplant recipients, organ donation is a second chance at life and they are so deeply grateful for that second chance. As one person remarked about donation, "It gives you faith in all humanity."

But in films the portrayal of organ donation and transplantation is not in the romantic comedy aisle or even in drama, the films about transplantation are most commonly found in the sci-fi/thriller/horror genre. Think of "Blood Works," "Dirty Pretty Things," "The Eye," "The Island," "X-Files," and new movies coming up like "Repossession Mambo" and "Repo! The Genetic Opera."

See for yourself. Here is a list of all movies with a donation/transplant plot:
http://www.rjwitte.com/changeofheart/GiftFromTheHeart/Section4/chpBonusTransplantMovies.html

When you take organs out of one person and put them into another person, well that is amazing. Amazing that a heart removed from one body can start to beat hours later in another person's body. Amazing that after the death of one person, another person can receive life.

Here's the thing. When we continue to think of transplantation as sci-fi it keeps it keeps it as an odity and potentially something to fear, rather than what it is, a life-saving treatment needed by nearly 100,000 people and a surgery performed thousands of times each year. In 2007 there were 28,356 transplants performed all across the United States, all done without cloned body parts, seeing ghosts, or murderous results.

So I am glad that "The Doctors" are intrigued by the stories of heart recipients. I hope that they help to tell those stories so that more of America sees the incredible generosity and profound gratitude that surrounds those touched by donation. I hope they help to tell the human story.

Here's a promo of The Dr's. They will have several shows this season focusing on organ and tissue transplantation. http://www.thedoctorstv.com/