I was around in the 60s. Like everyone else, I remember transplants as being a big no-no. I am unclear as to the actual punishment that would have been administered by the WTS, but it was made very clear that accepting a transplant would result in the biggest punishment of all - NO Paradise for offenders. If you accepted a transplant, you wouldn't get to pet the lions.
I remember the Awake article that claimed that a transplant recipient would take on the personality of the donor - if a person got the heart of a murderer, for example, they would become a murderer as well. Where this misguided notion came from is anyone's guess...but it was the subject of research done by someone who is a prominent Jehovah's Witness - Lorenz Reibling - when he was studying in Germany back in the 60s.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/exjwsupport/conversations/topics/2717
In 1966, Lorenz completed an apprenticeship as Industriekaufmann at
Obpacher AG, a Weyerhauser-affiliated, Munich-based printing and
publishing plant. Lorenz subsequently graduated from Munchen-Kolleg and
attended Technische Universitat and Ludwigs-Maximilians Universitat,
earning degrees in Cybernetics and Psychology. His early research on
personality changes in heart transplant patients was conducted at
University Hospital Munich Grosshadern. After immigration to America he
received a MS from Boston College in Organizational Management with focus
on maximizing intellectual capital. He has attended and completed
specialized courses at MIT and Harvard on real estate related subjects.
Mr. Reibling's early career included employment with multinational
corporations such as Hoechst (Cassella Riedl), American Hospital Supply
Corporation, and CPI Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. specializing in
sophisticated cardiac stimulation appliances.