TWO married couples have undergone Britain’s first kidney swap operation after legislation allowed people to donate organs to strangers.

One person from each couple needed a kidney but could not receive it from their spouse because their organs were not a suitable match.

Neither knew the other couple but were matched anonymously by doctors who carried out simultaneous operations to transfer the healthy kidneys to each of the sick people. It is believed each couple is still in the dark over the identity of the donor from whom they received the organ that could now save their lives.

The swap was made possible by the Human Tissue Act. Until it came into force in September last year living donors were only allowed to give kidneys to those who were genetically or emotionally related, such as a husband to a wife.

It was also disclosed this weekend that doctors had conducted the first British “good Samaritan” operation in which a donor gave up one of her healthy kidneys to be transplanted into a stranger who had suffered renal failure.

Unlike the swap in which the married couples each gave a kidney to strangers in order to receive a better matched organ in return, the good Samaritan donor gained nothing from the surgery other than fulfilling her desire to help others.

The good Samaritan donation was also made possible under the Human Tissue Act. There should be no impact on the donor’s health, though there is a slight chance she could need dialysis and a transplant if her remaining kidney fails.

The operations have been welcomed by UK Transplant, the National Health Service body responsible for allocating organs. Maxine Walter, acting director of communications, said: “This is a milestone. Legislation was changed in order to create opportunities for these new types of transplants and we are pleased to see that lives are being saved as a result.”

The Human Tissue Authority, a separate agency that regulates transplants, has so far declined to give details of how successful the kidney swap and the good Samaritan donation have been.

There are more than 6,400 people waiting for a kidney in Britain. Every year about 400 patients die waiting for a donated organ. Before the new legislation the patients who took part in the kidney swap would have had to wait on the list for an organ from a dead donor to become available.

Supporters of the swaps say they are a practical way of tackling the organ shortage but critics see the operations as the start of a slippery slope towards bartering for body parts.

Sue Roff, a senior research fellow at Dundee University Medical School and an expert in the ethics of organ donation, backs kidney swaps and good Samaritan donations but said others regarded them as a step towards a trade in organs.

“If there are two people with kidney disease and relatives with kidneys they wish to donate on their behalf but medically this is not possible, it is common sense to organise what you might calla barter,” said Roff. “But we have been cautious about this because of the ‘slippery slope’ principle. People fear the next step would be an organ market.”

There are also fears that a spouse or relative may be put under pressure to donate a kidney so that their loved one receives an organ in return.

As well as leaving themselves with only one kidney, a donor has a 1 in 3,000 chance of dying from the operation and runs a 2%-4% risk of suffering complications from the surgery.

In addition to understanding the risks good Samaritan donors need to go through extensive psychological testing to ensure they have the right motivation.

Margaret Challinor, a teacher from Manchester, is preparing to become a good Samaritan donor. Challinor, 62, who has chosen to be identified by her middle name to avoid too much publicity, said: “I have had a healthy, lucky life.I have had no diseases. It suddenly occurred to me that my children are grown up and healthy and I thought, ‘Why not do this?’ It would be good to save a life.”

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