Becoming a Donor
You Could be Someone’s Cure!
How the donor selection works:
- The Transplant Center searches the Be The Match database looking for a at least a partial match between the donor’s stored genetic information and the recipient
- Based on the data obtained from your cheek swab, you could be identified as a potential match for the donor.
- If that is the case, we will call you to either:
- Obtain your consent to do further testing on your already obtained sample
- Obtain a blood sample for further testing
- In either case:
- We will ascertain that you are still willing to be a donor
- We will explain all the steps to donate and answer all your questions
- You will be asked to sign a consent form agreeing to further testing (note: you would not be signing the consent form to donate at this stage)
- You will also be asked to fill out a health questionnaire form to determine if it is safe for you to donate
- Based on this further testing, the Transplant Center will determine whether you are the best match for the patient. At that stage, you could be asked to:
- Donate to the patient
- Become a backup donor in case the recipient’s family member or a previously identified best match become unsuitable for donation
If you are identified as the best match for the donor:
We will conduct another information session with you to make sure you understand both donation methods
You will be asked to sign a donation consent form
You will also be asked to sign a consent form for a long-term study of donors and to contribute a blood sample for a research study. Both of these are completely optional.
Complete another health questionnaire to ensure you are cleared to donate
Schedule a physical examination at an approved medical facility
We will work with you to schedule these appointments, as well as the donation date, to fit with your personal and work schedule, as well as the patient prep schedule
We do ask you to be prompt and flexible. Remember: a patient is waiting to hear whether their genetically matched donor is ready to donate