What's the situation with blood donations?

Freiheit

As I have female hormones,in an at birth ,male assigned body I was told I can't donate blood,in fact even on T blockers alone I was told I could not donate.

Read somewhere today that lgb people are not allowed to donate either,is thus really the case? and if so why?.

Guten Morgen

F

cambridge

men who have sex with men are not able to donate blood as the perceived greater risk of blood borne viruses e.g. HIV.

i didn't know that being on testosterone blockers would preclude you

bodice ripper

I tried to give blood some years ago. they wouldn't take mine because I am bisexual, nor the missus. at the time, we had only ever had sex with each other. short of being a virgin, i don't know if we could have been in a lower risk bracket.


So **** them, I am keeping it.

ladypip

There was a thread about this awhile ago, I said it then and Ill say it again. Excluding people based on their sexuality is discrimination. Its disgusting and should be stopped. The blood is tested for everything anyway so why does it matter?

Ciaran0

ladypip wrote: »

There was a thread about this awhile ago, I said it then and Ill say it again. Excluding people based on their sexuality is discrimination. Its disgusting and should be stopped. The blood is tested for everything anyway so why does it matter?

No, this isn't an issue of discrimination. It has nothing to do with sexuality in fact. Men who have/have had sex with with men(regardless of whether they identify as gay/straight/bi) cannot donate blood, because the risk is far higher with this category and the tests available to make sure the blood is disease free aren't 100% perfect. It's better to be safe than sorry. And it isn't just men who've had sex with men who cannot donate, there are a lot of criteria you must meet to donate blood.

Conor30

Ciaran0 wrote: »

No, this isn't an issue of discrimination. It has nothing to do with sexuality in fact. Men who have/have had sex with with men(regardless of whether they identify as gay/straight/bi) cannot donate blood, because the risk is far higher with this category and the tests available to make sure the blood is disease free aren't 100% perfect. It's better to be safe than sorry. And it isn't just men who've had sex with men who cannot donate, there are a lot of criteria you must meet to donate blood.

I would tend to agree actually, even though they often have blood shortages.

However, I think it's difficult to ascertain who is and isn't 'a risk'. A hetero guy could be having sex with a different woman every weekend and he's considered less risk than a man who happens to be gay and might not have had sex in 3 or 4 months!

Ciaran0

Conor30 wrote: »

I would tend to agree actually, even though they often have blood shortages.

However, I think it's difficult to ascertain who is and isn't 'a risk'. A hetero guy could be having sex with a different woman every weekend and he's considered less risk than a man who happens to be gay and might not have had sex in 3 or 4 months!

I agree with you definitely, but unfortunately there isn't a protocol where they can assess everyone individually and determine who actually is at the greatest risk. It would take to much resources and time, which is why we have the system we have. It's not perfect in terms of fairness or whatever, but in medicine you can't take unnecessary chances and if that means having to put all gay men in the one bracket so be it.

Ciaran0

I believe Britain has actually updated it's policy, so that men who have sex with men actually can donate blood after a certain period of time, given that they've taken all the correct tests. Maybe that's what we should be aiming for too