Modern Family star Sarah Hyland reveals second kidney transplant

Modern Family star Sarah Hyland says she had a second kidney transplant last year, replacing a kidney from her father with another from her brother.

Sarah Hyland has revealed she had a second kidney transplant.Credit:Jordan Strauss/AP

The 28-year old, who has appeared on the sitcom Modern Family since she was 18, was born with kidney dysplasia, which causes cysts to grow on underdeveloped kidneys.

She received her father's kidney in 2012, but four years later her body began rejecting it, and she underwent a series of treatments that included months of dialysis that she squeezed in around Modern Family shoots, but it became increasingly clear that the kidney would have to be replaced.

"I was very depressed," Hyland told Self. "When a family member gives you a second chance at life, and it fails, it almost feels like it's your fault. It's not. But it does."

Hyland on Modern Family.

The family learned Hyland's younger brother Ian was a match. She was reticent to take another organ from a loved one.

"For a long time, I was contemplating suicide, because I didn't want to fail my little brother like I failed my dad," Hyland said.

But Ian insisted.

"I only cared about Sarah knowing that I had her back and that she was going to be OK," 23-year-old Ian Hyland told Self. "I probably would have insisted on donating even if I wasn't a match."

Hyland had the second transplant in September of 2017, and is struggling to adjust to her changed body, but overall is recovering well.

In the interview, Hyland also discussed her battles with endometriosis and an abdominal hernia, which both required surgery earlier this year.

"I was born wrong. Physically. In a way that's not good for your body to keep going," she told the publication.

"I have endometriosis. Oh, and also, I have kidney failure. Oh, and also, I'm a two-time kidney recipient. Oh, and also, I had a frickin' hernia for almost a year that went unnoticed.

"That list doesn't stop… But that list doesn't hold me back from anything. I won't let it."

Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636.

AP, Fairfax Media

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