Richard Batista, a New York surgeon, was very much in love with Dawnell, his wife and mother of his three children, in 2001 when he donated one of his own kidneys in order to save her life.  Unfortunately, this tale of love became a sad one after the marriage turned sour in 2005.

Now, Batista is demanding that she return the kidney as part of the divorce settlement the couple is trying to reach.  If she doesn’t hand over the kidney, Batista wants $1.5 million for it instead.

Batista, who works at Long Island’s Nassau University Medical Center, says the marriage began to unravel when his wife recovered from the transplant and began an extramarital affair.  He told reporters he knows of no “deeper pain” than betrayal by someone to whom your whole life has been devoted.

The request for return of the kidney is the result of frustration with divorce negotiations that have remained ongoing since his wife filed for divorce in 2005.  He chose to make his demand public because of the frustration.