PARENTS are significantly less likely to donate their child’s organs for lifesaving transplants, figures have shown.

Across the UK, there were 57 donors aged 17 and under last year, while the overall number of deceased adult donors rose by 20 per cent since 2013/14.

Copeland MP Trudy Harrison, who backed a move to a presumed consent system in parliament last year, encouraged parents to find out their child’s wishes.

She said: “I cannot pretend to understand how awfully heart-breaking this discussion could be for any parent to lose their child.

“The fact is, of the children we lost last year in Britain, just 57 were registered on the donor list, significantly less than adults.

“The reality is that without more donors, more poorly children with life-limiting conditions will continue to suffer and ultimately die prematurely.

“Presumed consent has encouraged a significant rise in adult donors but does not apply to children.

“I had the conversation with my own four daughters some time ago and my daughter Francesca signed herself up at 16 to be a stem cell and organ donor, and I now it is what they would want.

“One donor could save up to nine lives, but it is ultimately a decision for parents and families.”

For many children on the waiting list, young donors offer their only hope, with hearts and lungs needing to be matched by size because of the limited space inside the chest.

Currently, children can join the donor register, but those with parental responsibility must give consent for donation after they die.

Parents can choose to add their children to the register at any time.

Angie Scales, NHS Blood and Transplant lead nurse for paediatric donation, said: “For many children on the transplant waiting list, their only hope is the parent of another child saying ‘yes’ to organ donation at a time of terrible personal grief.

"Organ donation can offer comfort to the families of donors through the knowledge that something remarkable came from their loss.

"There are many children alive today thanks to parents making the decision to donate when saying goodbye to their own child."

How to become an organ donor

There are three different ways to donate. These are:

- Brain stem death - this is where a person no longer has activity in their brain stem due to a severe brain injury and have permanently lost the potential for consciousness and the capacity to breathe.

- Circulatory death - the irreversible loss of heart function and lungs after a cardiac arrest from which the patient cannot be resuscitated or this could also be planned withdrawal from life support.

- Living donation- you can choose to donate a kidney, a small section of your liver, discarded bone from a hip or knee replacement and also your placenta.

Everyone can join the NHS Organ Donor Register regardless of age, as long as they are legally capable to make the decision and living in the UK.

Having a medical condition does not always prevent you from becoming an organ donor.

To join the register, go to www.organdonation.nhs.uk