QuoteMost places won't let you give blood if you're trans.

Is it because you're trans or because you're a genetic male who's had sex with men? 

you're taking blood altering medication....  Hormones, in larger than natural dosages, and antiandrogens in a lot of cases...  You do realise both pregnant women and women taking menopausal hrt cannot give blood either? abnormal hormone levels = no bloodz.

Not everything is about bumsex, as fun as that could be to blame the world...

You are also banned from giving blood for a few years after going to a lot of tropical countries.

its after the taking blood from everone business and passing diseases through transfusions we decided to protect people by usuing only pure clean blood... ( NOT PURE AS IN NORMAL/CIS/STRAIGHT, dont start ><)

I don't know that much about blood count and screening and what documentation of what meds you are taking are necessary for one to produce to donate blood, but I can see a blood bank possibly turning you away if you are TS, not necessarily out of ignorance but out of not knowing what to do with a  history of having male birth gender and taking female hormones and androgen blocker.

OK now you may proceed to throw rotten veggies at me, I brought my umbrella this time.

Cindy

the whole blood thing never occurred to me. I keep meaning to go give blood, I better get my ass in gear before I can no longer do it.

I give blood regularly.  Maybe it's only MTF transition...?

Starbuck --

Their ain't no such thing as "pure clean blood." Everybody has nasty stuff in their blood, at least nasty to any other human. Many people who are on medications donate blood. I know a diabetic who's been donating blood for decades. They used to ban him (because of the insulin), until they determined that the amount of synthetic insulin in his blood is not a risk to anyone for anything. Similarly with e and spiro. You won't make a man sterile by the tiny dose he'll get from a pint of your blood. There is a short list of drugs that are not allowed, but neither estradiol nor spironolactone are on it, nor any other variety of HRT.

What is a BIG no-no is any male-male sexual contact since 1977. And, indeed, that has everything to do with bumsex.

Anyway, that's the story here. Read more here (my local blood center). If you have a similar page for your local blood center (part of NHS I suppose?) I'd be happy to read it.

~Alyssa

*sigh*, I know theres a no man-man thing.... but the m2f thing IS because of hormone levels.... and more importantly, the blood altering qualities of antiandrogens. As i said, its also a factor of artificially high levels, not for the fear of making someone sterile, or growing boobs, its just done.... as you said... your friend WAS banned for the same reason. STOP presuming, and listen to someone whos father has worked for the nhs for 30 blooming years and is a director at SHA level...

Sorry, I'm a nerd. When someone tells me something, I want to know the reason behind it.

I won't just take your word on it, since I've seen contrary evidence everywhere I've looked. And I was beeing a bit facetious, in response to your slightly flippant "bumsex" reference.

My diabetic friend is no longer ineligible. He's been completely reliant on synthetic insulin since before he was old enough to donate, but they lifted the restriction, and since then he's donated more than 10 gallons.

The only specific reference I can find to menopausal women on HRT was to say they are eligible.

The issue with blood plasma exists -- specifically, a higher risk of thrombisis -- but hrt is hardly the only thing that can do that, and it's not like every transsexual woman is getting blood clots and dying. You're living with that blood 24/7/365. I think that most people bleeding out on an ER stretcher would love to have a pint of your blood (provided the type matches and you don't have some nasty disease).

Please find a reference from the NHS or British Red Cross -- I can't find it, but if you can, I'd be very interested. I'm not denying that what you're saying is true. I just want to see some evidence for it so that I can understand the reasons better.

~A

I do not have specific reference.... only the fact that... wait, arent you american?

The reasoning is, there are artifical components in the blood, with  ready supply of donations, it is easier to use clear donors, diabetic medications have been cleared from that list, as having no effect, but transgender hrt has a significaltly higher levels of hormones to those of post menopausal women, similarly to pregant women. Both are excuded for thier blood chemistry, not the fact that m2fs 'are genetic males having sex with males' im sorry that 'bumsex' offended you....

Quote from: Starbuck on February 04, 2009, 03:11:25 AM
I do not have specific reference.... only the fact that... wait, arent you american?

... which is why I'm curious as to what they do over there. This side of the pond, while I found some discussion of the effect on blood properties, there wasn't anything that said it's not acceptable, even at higher pre-surgury levels.

I don't have a clear recollection (which is why I didn't mention it) but I'm pretty sure that my diabetic friend said that there was a regular donor who was transsexual. Either that, or someone said it when I donated with him one time. (I might have discretely brought it up.  How clever of me.) But like I said, it's only a vague recollection, so I don't trust it. But it's part of the reason it piqued my interest.

Okay, I need to go to bed. It's late, even out West.

A Transsexual person may donate... if they dont tell... The nurses dont have record access, and will only see 'miss x or mr y' and if its not answered in the questionare, they dont get access to it. Samples are screened out later if found to be unsatisfactory regardless of donors.

Quote from: Starbuck on February 04, 2009, 06:49:05 AM
A Transsexual person may donate... if they dont tell... The nurses dont have record access, and will only see 'miss x or mr y' and if its not answered in the questionare, they dont get access to it. Samples are screened out later if found to be unsatisfactory regardless of donors.

In the UK.  Here, it's fine.  i also looked up eligibility and there is nothing listed about being trans, hormones, etc.

I'm going to throw in here as this issue is close to my heart too.

I was an apheresis (platelet) donor for about 12 years.  Platelet donation is critical because it cannot be frozen and is usually given to someone withing 5 days of harvesting.  It takes about 2 hours to take the platelets from the body.  A line is drawn from one arm, goes through a centrifuge where the platelets and plasma are separated and then the red blood cells are returned in another line in the other arm.  Basically you cannot move for that period of time.  They usually put a movie on for you.  The harvested platelets are given mostly to leukemia patients and those who have had their bone marrow irradiated in preparation for a marrow transplant.

In other words this is worth more than platinum.  Not enough people donate blood, even fewer donate platelets.  It is always in disparate need.

You also can donate one or two times a month instead of every 90 days since the body replenishes the plasma and platelets in about a 7 - 14 days.

I was a conscientious donor and had received their lifetime donor recognition pin.  When I was about to start HRT I thought nothing of informing them of my new medication regimen.  I figured that women go on HRT all the time, there shouldn't be any issue with me.

I was devastated when I was summarily told that I could no longer donate blood or platelets.

I started calling everyone at LifeSource about their decision.  After repeated inquiries I found out that it was dictated by an FDA guideline that specifically forbids transsexuals from donating because of engaging in dangerous lifestyle activities!

Trust me, my lifestyle was hardly dangerous either before or after my transition.  Unless you consider falling asleep at 8:00 pm in my chair dangerous.

I can only imagine what was going through the heads of the clowns who made up THAT rule!

They say that censors have the most prurient souls.  Otherwise how else could they see penises in clouds and call "Puff the Magic Dragon" a reverse back masking attempt to convince the youth (at that time) to smoke marijuana.

I tend to agree with that point of view now.

-Sandy

Quote from: Starbuck on February 04, 2009, 03:11:25 AM
Both are excuded for thier blood chemistry, not the fact that m2fs 'are genetic males having sex with males' im sorry that 'bumsex' offended you....

i'm a m2f, and i want nothing to do with having sex with a man regardless of my status. somebody has there head up their bum if they think ALL of us want a damned
man. I DON'T AND WILL NEVER NEED A MAN FOR A DAMNED THING!!!!

and i emailed my local biolife to see if i get a response as to whether or not i would be allowed to donate plasma here.

Quote from: The Only Warrior Princess Mickie on February 04, 2009, 12:43:42 PM
I DON'T AND WILL NEVER NEED A MAN FOR A DAMNED THING!!!!

Well, they say that a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle...

-Sandy(bless you Gloria Steinem!)

keep your own feminist/lesbian rhetoric... but some of us do like men....

Dunno about MtF, but FtM's have the same amount of T as other guys. I donated regularly until I went to Mexico (which bars you for a year).

Dennis

Quote from: Starbuck on February 04, 2009, 06:49:05 AM
A Transsexual person may donate... if they dont tell...

Or they don't know. Otherwise, the information on donor or blood screening is readily available.