Last week national and international news outlets picked up the story of a Massachusetts woman who has donated her kidney to her former mother-in-law. Though the donor had been divorced from the woman’s son for over eight years, she still found plenty of reasons to selflessly donate her kidney to save the woman’s life, and in some way, try to make things right for going out on the wrong foot during the divorce.

The ex-husband and son of the transplant recipient agreed. “Because of the hurt she has caused, not only myself, and our two boys, but the hurt that she caused my mom. And this was her way of…to make it right,” he said. The couple had two boys, who are now ages 17 and 18.

This is a touching story of how one woman reached out to set things right when things had gone wrong, and in the process saved a life and helped the family of a former spouse. It goes to show that even after a divorce and all the difficult emotions that divorce entails, there can still be room for mutual respect, cooperation and altruism. While most may not have to go as far as giving a vital organ, there are still things that can be done during the divorce process to make things easier for one’s self, one’s ex and one’s children.

The process of divorce mediation can be helpful for fostering the kind of mutual respect a divorcing couple will find useful when it comes to co-parenting and other joint decisions. Just because a couple gets divorced, in-laws and other relatives don’t have to be out of a spouse’s life forever. As this story shows, they can be reunited in the most unusual of ways.

Source: MailOnline “Woman, 42, donates kidney to her former mother-in-law to make up for walking out on her son,” August 20, 2012