Second point, is my wife lived in the UK for a year for so, during the 1980 – 1996 period. She seems to have a ‘ life long ‘ ban on giving blood.
But our children do not. My wife’s mother was born in England, travelled and lived for much longer period of time during the 1980 – 1996 period….. yet she can give blood…… because she is a rare type. Oddly enough, she is so rare, that the Service apparently spends additional resources to somehow process my mother-in-law’s blood, so that it ( or any componant ) can be safely used.
Go figure !!

regards,

Just to put things into perspective for some readers, there’s no ban or discrimination on gay people donating, it’s a deferral of male to male sex for a designated period, as male to male sex carries a higher risk of HIV than some other groups of people. For example, lesbians are not prevented from donating blood, in fact this isn’t relevant to the donation process because female to female sex does not carry a high risk of HIV.

As is discussed above, there are many lifestyle factors, health issues and travel habits which prevent donation either permanently or temporarily which are based on medical and statistical information.

I hope this helps.

Just to put things into perspective for any other readers, it’s not a ban on being gay, it’s a ban on male to male sex in the past 12 months which statistically has higher rates of HIV transmission than some groups of people. Lesbians are not prevented from donating blood (in fact this doesn’t get asked, as female to female sex is not a high risk factor and is therefore not relevant to blood donation), and as discussed above, quite a few medical conditions, lifestyle factors and travelling habits prevent blood donation, either permanently or temporarily.