Donors must be between 18 and 50 years old and be in good health. They will be asked to give a 40ml sample of their blood at least one. This enables doctors to make sure the donor cannot pass any infections on to any patient who receives the bone marrow, and to identify what type of bone marrow the donor has. Once a person has joined the Australian Bone marrow Donor Registry, the chances of being asked to donate are about one in a thousand. If someone is asked to donate bone marrow, they will need a general anaesthetic.
Bone marrow is taken from the hip bone.
This means a hospital stay of one to two days. If you don't feel confident about speaking English, ask a relative or friend to help you make the phone call. If you decide to go ahead and register as a donor, this could be done with the help of an interpreter. Any details that you give to the Registry are confidential. 7517 GPO Box 1614, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia This site has been made possible with the cooperation and support of NSW Health Dept and South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service.