How Do You Divide a Kidney?
January 9th, 2009
Give Me My Kidney!
A Long Island surgeon, Dr. Richard Batista, is seeking the return of his donated kidney from his wife in the property division of his ongoing divorce case. Alternatively, he is willing to allow her to keep the kidney in exchange for $1.5 million.
Apparently, the valuation was derived based on what a black market kidney would sell for. However, such sales are illegal in the U.S.
The article goes on to explain that Dr. Batista is extremely hurt and upset by his wife’s extra marital affairs which occurred some time after the kidney transplant.
Generally speaking, a kidney (donated or otherwise) would not be a marital asset subject to division. But it will be interesting to see how the New York divorce court handles the case.
