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A couple in north China's Hebei Province are donating their kidneys to save their uremia-stricken son and daughter, the Beijing Times reported Thursday.

The Li family wait for the transplant operation to begin. [Photo/Chinanews]

Li Qingzhong and his wife Duan Shuhua are farmers from the city of Chengde in Hebei Province. Their son Li Kai (17) and older daughter Li Min were diagnosed with uremia in 2010 and 2012, respectively.

As the treatment for Li Kai cost at least 6,000 yuan (about US$968) every month, the family was soon cash-strapped. Li Qingzhong has been helping his son receive dialysis at home since August 2012.

The family's plight came under the spotlight following several media reports in 2013. The Chinese Red Cross Foundation raised money for the family, and the General Hospital of the Armed Police Forces in Beijing promised to carry out physical exams for the family free of charge.

"There are few kidney donors in China, and you have to wait for a long time. If we donate our own kidneys, we can save a large amount of money (as well as waiting time)," Mr. Li told the Beijing Times on Wednesday.

After physical examinations, the family decided that the father would donate his kidney to his daughter and the mother would give her kidney to her son.

"She did not know that one cannot live without kidneys; she even wanted to donate both her kidneys at first," Mr. Li said on the verge of tears.

Asked what he wanted to do after the operation, the son said immediately, "I want to go to school." The younger Li hasn't been to school since he fell ill almost six years ago.

The eight-hour transplant operation on the son and the mother went smoothly on Wednesday. The operation for the daughter will take place later.

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