Your blood type is definitely a big factor , but there are a couple of ways that people can donate and receive transplants with different blood types, Dr. Montgomery says. For example, if you wanted to donate to a friend or family member with a different blood type, you can get paired with another couple (or many other couples) of compatible people, which is called a "swap," he says. (If you're confused, this video does a great job of explaining how the process works.) About 1,000 swaps are performed a year. Or, you could do what's called a " blood-type incompatible transplant ," which involves undergoing treatment before the transplant to filter out antibodies that would otherwise make you incompatible, he says.