Nope, I work for Canadian Blood Services, You can never choose where your blood goes. The only way to do this is by a Directed Donation (which can only go to a family member, and must be requested by the Dr. and the Family, or an Autologous Donation, which goes back to yourself). Plus, Canada will only accept VOLUNTEER donations. We can't pay for blood or Plasma. Ever.



And ON TOPIC, the only way to know if you can donate is by trying. The USFDA governs what is acceptable as far as patient safety (where the blood goes) and the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) governs what the donor suitability is. So there are two different bodies who have a say in who can donate.



Anyway, if you want to, go ahead and try, it is a good thing overall.



BTW the screening test for donors uses only copper sulphate. After some research I found that donating blood is NOT VEGETARIAN! Almost all of the reagents used for blood typing (from Immucor) are made from murine (mouse) anti-sera. Almost all of the reagents use bovine (cow) albumin as a medium. So donating blood or plasma is NOT VEGETARIAN.



If anyone has more questions about blood donation, screening, or testing, message me or email (just go to my profile)

I donated plasma for a while to get some extra spending money in college. Didn't cause many problems until I started eating more fatty foods (this was before I went vegetarian), then some problems started. You can still see the tiny scar where the needle always went in my left arm, barely at all in my right where it went a couple times (They've almost always drawn blood from the left arm for me).



They always tested me for various things, including iron content, before I could donate.

i don't honestly know if you are supporting animal testing, but you are helping save human lives, which can be good. the way i see it, if our biggest animal rights problems were whether or not the company we donate our blood to tests on animals or not, and not 'are our shampoos/soaps/mascaras/window cleaners/air freshners/perfumes/toothpastes/etc.' tested on animals, i would be pretty damn satisfied, although of course i am against all animal testing.



i would assume with blood it is not supporting animal testing. like someone else in the forum said, the stuff they use to separate the blood may have been tested on animals, but that is over and done with to the best of my knowledge, although if it bothers you, i would recommend you look into it more.

How disgusting. It can take up to 90 for HIV to show up on a test. Hence why your (lying ass) friends should tell the truth on weather or not theyd slept with another man with 12 months of donating. Hell, someone infected 2 people due to giving plasma after your comment in 2007 and 2010. Both were men who slept with men. Ugh. (And) Fyi- Being a crossdresser doesnt equate to being a homosexual.

My gay friends just lie.

As long as you are certain that you aren't a carrier for HIV then it doesn't matter. They only ask that because, traditionally, the gay population has a higher tendency to be a carrier for HIV. I've seen drag queens in there donating, I kid you not. The staff didn't know for sure but I did because I'd seen her preform at drag shows. How she got away with it I'm not sure, but she did! I say more power to her.[/quote]

It can take up to 90 for HIV to show up on a test. Hence why your (lying ass) friends should tell the truth on weather or not they'd slept with another man with 12 months of donating. Hell, someone ( 2 seperate people) infected people due to giving plasma after your comment in 2007 and 2010. Both were men who slept with men. Ugh. (And) Fyi- Being a crossdresser doesn't equate to being a homosexual.

Heterosexuals also contract HIV: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/index.html .
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That will not be a problem. You will also get screened first before you can donate plasma so it all comes down to your overall health at the time of the physical exam.