This study aimed to analyze the family refusal before a potential organ donor and identify their motivators through family reports documented in records archived in a large hospital in the Municipality of Curitiba, State of Parana, in 2011. The research method used was a qualitative descriptive cross-based on the content analysis of Bardin. The following categories emerged from the reports: disagreement between family members; lack of knowledge about the potential donor's will; desire to maintain the integrity of the body; fear of delay in the release of the body; lack of understanding about the diagnosis of brain death and religious issues; dissatisfaction with hospital's service staff; respect for the opinion that the potential donor manifested in life; and distrust and fear of traffic of organs. We concluded that, in order to achieve greater acceptance family for organ donation, it is necessary to elaborate informational programs, based on the reasons highlighted here, intending to clarify these people appropriately.
tissue donors; family relations; family; brain death; transplantation