Ansara Piebenga

Board Secretary
Caregiver to Kidney and Liver Transplant Recipient

Ansara Piebenga is the mother of two daughters. Her younger daughter was diagnosed at four months of age with a rare, genetic disease called primary hyperoxaluria. She endured a year of daily (seven days a week!) outpatient hemodialysis and nightly home peritoneal dialysis while being fed only through a gastric-tube. Once she grew large enough, she received a combined kidney and liver transplant when she was only 16 months of age. Ansara and her family now live in Charleston, SC and both daughters are happy, young women. Ansara has mentored other families facing chronic kidney disease since 2007. She volunteers for Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, the Medical University of South Carolina, the Improving Renal Outcomes Collaborative (IROC), the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ASPN) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Ansara joined the Board of Transplant Families in 2021 and enjoys putting her experience to work to help improve the lives of all pediatric transplant recipients.