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Do You Lie To the Blood Bank?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Data, Nov 3, 2013.

  1. Data

    Data Guest

    Simply, if/when you donate blood do you lie about being gay so that they'll allow you to donate?

    I have never donated, but I received a unit of B- when I had surgery to fix my shattered femur. I had lost a lot of blood in surgery, and since I lost a major producer (femur marrow) my H&H levels were very low (5.5 at the lowest. I had trouble breathing enough O2 for my body) and stayed low for weeks. I now have a debt to the blood bank that I want to make up.

    Now, I'm a virgin and I've never so much as kissed another person on the lips. I have no tats or piercings and I have never used IV drugs. I think I would be justified in saying that I was a straight virgin so I could donate my blood. I'm clean as a whistle.

    Have you ever lied like that? Virgin or not, it doesn't matter. I'm just curious how people feel about this.
     
  2. Daydreamer1

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    I was honest when I first went, and it ended with me not being eligible to donate until July 2014 (Or sometime in 2015 now that I plan on getting modded). But as far as being gay goes, I never disclosed my sexuality. A virgin myself, I never felt the need to.
     
  3. Saint Otaku

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    I believe, and this is not from experience, but I have heard that they ask not if one is gay, or even one's sexuality, but if one is of "men who have sex with men." If so, then virgins such as us should be fine, if you were up to it physically.

    However, if it were me hypothetically, I wouldn't lie, for I wouldn't think myself decent if I lied. No, I would work with the LGBT activists to get donation policy focused more upon screening high-risk lifestyle choices, such as whether a donor practices safe sex or is promiscuous, rather than something like "have you slept with men before?"
     
  4. Data

    Data Guest

    That's a good point (the decency) but I feel like the lie is driven by the will to help others and possibly save lives. Therefore it's justified.

    It's true that they ask for MSM activity. Technically it won't be a lie till you lose your virginity. Even afterward though, I'm a germaphobe. I don't see myself having any kind of risky contact AT ALL. I wouldn't even want to kiss someone in a club.

    The donated blood is always given a rounded screening before being added to the stock. So even if you did have HIV or other disease, it theoretically should get caught in the screening. I'm not saying HIV+ people should lie and donate. Not at all.

    In my situation, that unit of blood cut my hospital stay by weeks. If you ever want to know what it must feel like to be a vampire, try getting a blood transfusion! I felt so much better in 30 minutes. I wouldn't care where the blood came from, as long as the race, ABO, RH, and MN factors are the same.

    I really hope the Red Cross DOES remove their MSM restriction in a few years.
     
  5. GirlWhoWaited

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    I would lie. They're required to test the blood for HIV (which is the primary reason for the ridiculous rule) anyway. It probably makes me a terrible person, but the rule seems a bit overly discriminatory.
     
  6. Tzoa

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    I don't think it makes you a terrible person at all. The rule is discriminatory. They should ask "have you had unprotected sex in the last X months?" No mention of what gender you were with, because everyone can get an STD, from any gender. I believe that helping someone, potentially even saving lives, trumps their discriminatory rule. So if I were a gay man I would also lie to the blood bank about my sexual orientation.
     
  7. Argentwing

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    If I were to hit any "yes" answers to questions that are discriminatory and not concerned with actual blood quality, I would have a moral obligation to lie.
     
  8. Randy

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    If I know for a fact that my blood/plasma won't harm anybody, you better believe I will lie; however, if I do have sex with a man and do get HIV (hope to God that doesn't happen) then, no I will not lie in that case.
     
  9. Data

    Data Guest

    You're all good people.

    This is why the Red Cross should remove the MSM ban. There are plenty of good people with good gay blood willing to save lives.
     
  10. Hexagon

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    I haven't donated, but I want to. My plans were interrupted when I got a tattoo, because the first couple of weeks, it was obvious the tattoo was new (4 month wait). I should really make an appointment sometime. Yes, I would lie, assuming I had reason to believe my blood was clean. Its one lie, and the potential to save lives.
     
  11. Hexagon

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    Data... I just remembered. Maybe its different in the US, but I read the guidelines here, and if you've ever had a blood transfusion, you're not allowed to donate. Not that you have to pay attention to that, but it might be the sort of thing they could check.
     
  12. Data

    Data Guest

    That's a very good point! I just looked it up and in the US you have to wait 1 year after getting a transfusion. It's been 1 year and 1 month so I'm good to go. :slight_smile:
     
  13. Hexagon

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    Excellent. Here, its "Anywhere in the world since 1970" (maybe 1980, I'm not sure). I think its a little excessive.
     
  14. Daydreamer1

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    Pretty sure if you go to a place like BioTest they could tell you everything you need to know. I mentioned that I had been on meds that affect my blood and they told me there was a certain period I had to be off them to be eligible to donate for a safety measure of some kind (6-12 months I think).
     
  15. BryanM

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    I'm not sure about the exact wording, but apparently if you are gay but you have never had sex, then you can donate. If that's true I could be eligible to donate as of right now, but I wouldn't lie about it, because if they deny me I'd protest. I've never donated, and am undecided on whether to donate in the future.
     
  16. kem

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    I don't have to lie yet, fortunately.

    I agree that the MSM rule excludes the wrong people. In Finland, you could donate blood even if you had sex with someone who was hiv positive, albeit you can only do so a year after the relationship has ended. Or you could have sex with a dozen hookers and still be able to donate. It's just ridiculous.
     
  17. DrkRayne

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    I donated Plasma when I was homeless (needed the money) and i was shocked at the questions. Men who have had sex with me since 1980 something. WTH? I was like..wow....also the last time they had sex with a guy.

    I'm a lesbian, but their gay question didnt apply to me because it said "yes" "no" "i'm a female" because being gay didnt matter because I was woman.

    If you are that discriminatory against gay men, why not straight women since they have the next highest risk? its just sad. They test anyway so....why are they so discriminatory about it.
     
  18. Hexagon

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    Anyone is at risk if they have sex. IMO, the regulations should be something along the lines of: Don't donate within 3 months* of having casual sex or if you and your mono partner haven't been tested.

    *3 months, or however long the incubation period is, and you must have been tested.

    Yes, infidelity can happen, but they don't discriminate against monogamous hetero couples now, and they do test the blood before transfusions can happen. So perhaps a small amount of blood would have to be thrown out, but nothing compared to the increase in donation they'd probably get.
     
  19. Hrantou

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    Its funny how far we've come medically in the past decade...yet rules like that still exist. But its a discriminatory law. Would I lie? Yes. Sometimes laws like that need to be broken if it can save a life. Plus I know for a fact that I am clean. So I would lie.
     
  20. GirlWhoWaited

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    I was thinking about it. The question should really be "Would you tell one lie to save three lives?".