Susan's Place Transgender Resources

So I was curious if anyone knows what, if any, affects that donating plasma or blood could have on the effectiveness of HRT?

I'm currently on a shoestring budget so tight that donating plasma on top of working is really the only way to get by. I just started HRT last week and have as of yet to give plasma since then. I'm just curious if anyone has any details about this?

Much love,

Felicity

hrt does not disqualify you from donating... but when i officially changed my gender.. i got banned for life.. even tho i can pass all the male and female questions.. when i pushed hard for a reason.. they could not give me a valid one..

Quote from: Sspar on April 11, 2016, 01:07:59 AM
hrt does not disqualify you from donating... but when i officially changed my gender.. i got banned for life.. even tho i can pass all the male and female questions.. when i pushed hard for a reason.. they could not give me a valid one..

I think those attitudes stem from an erroneous and insulting view that potential donators presenting with a trans-gender history, indulge in {assumed} "practices" that place them in a higher risk category with regards to sexually transmissible diseases, even though many of the screening questions would theoretically enable safe donations to be made; a further {tacit} negative assumption seems to be, that such questions might not be truthfully answered by volunteers presenting from that cohort.
I would think that such views are the result of flawed perceptions of the relationship `twixt gender-identity and sexual orientation.
Such assumptions of course, are grossly insulting, both to potential donators, whom happen to be Lesbian or Gay-males and to people of trans-history.......`very sad that volunteers are so needlessly disbarred!

The red cross till very very recently refused to accept blood from gay men due in a large part to the aids scare. As far as they are concerned there definition of gay man is any gay or bisexual male as well as any transgender people.

To them the fact that I am a woman, a virgin and a lesbian means nothing I am still considered a man who has sex with men and thus a high risk for stds and aids.

I hate humanity most days,
Serena

Yeah, unfortunately I'm quite aware of their heavily discriminatory practices. For the time being, with my short hair, it's easy enough for me to simply where more androgynous clothing and no makeup when I go in and they allow me to donate. I can only do that for so long I suspect though.

Thanks for providing some additional information though, sad as it may be.

Quote from: Sspar on April 11, 2016, 01:07:59 AM
hrt does not disqualify you from donating... but when i officially changed my gender.. i got banned for life.. even tho i can pass all the male and female questions.. when i pushed hard for a reason.. they could not give me a valid one..

Just to add a different perspective.

I have donated either whole blood or plasma quite a bit in the past.

I sent a letter to the Red Cross Australia asking about specific eligibility given my HRT and my transition.

I got a very articulate and sensitive, personalised response from a senior doctor explaining the Red Cross policies, how gender affected eligibility, and how their policies applied to me.

The outcome was - my HRT medications do not prevent me from donating. I have not engaged in a sexual act in the past three years that would prohibit me from donating (I might in the future, which means I get to keep my blood all to myself!!) I can still donate in Australia for the time being.

Ironically, the Red Cross mobile lab hasn't been to our workplace since then, so I haven't had any opportunity to donate.

I never had a problem when I use to donation blood or other blood products here in Aust,
The only time they regected me was when certain blood levels were below there numbers,
I just stopped because of politics and double standards about there rules,

Cheers Tracy

Thanks for letting me know about that option Claire. I'll have to look into whether or not that would be a viable possibility for me here in the U.S. My only concern with sending a letter like that might be that it could backfire and get me barred from donating at all moving forward.