FabSwingers.com forum: Donating blood

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Due to recent events in the world of floss have been looking into blood donation.

I find it really interesting the restrictions they have based on peoples sexual practices. If you have have slept with a sexually active gay/bi man in last 12 months you are immediately excluded and if you have accepted money for sex or drugs you are also out. Not saying they are wrong I'm sure they know what they are doing more than I do.

Just got me to thinking that if you are a gay couple who have only ever had contact with each other or a sex worker who might just have few regulars and practice scrupulous sexual health you would be rejected but if you go out getting out of your face every week having sex with any passing warm body then you would be accepted.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I dont think the screening criteria is right but also dont think its possible for the blood banks to screen every individual donor so they have to have a general criteria and stick to it.

Just the way life is

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I never get it either

Lets be honest how hard would it be for say a sex worker or a bi sexual man to say they was in a long tearm relationship and only had sex with 1 partner in the last 5 years?

They would take the blood, test it and if alls ok use it, if they had been honest thats hunderds of perfectly ok doners they are turning away monthly

The bloods tested anyway so why not just take everyones?

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

From what I read they admit they test all donations as well as they can but there is a small chance that nasties can get past them. Guess its like everything in life now, we have to have blanket rules for everything that eliminates any room for common sense

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By *ath-N-DelCouple
over a year ago

Glasgow area

Not sure but...

Think it has something to do with the time in which certain infections show in the blood....

They are simply cutting down the risk of infected blood being passed...and they have picked to 2 activities that carry the greater risk...

Sex and drugs...

But as has been said....people could easily lie!

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

As I said I'm very sure they have good reasoning behind their rules guess if anything I was just bit surprised at the specific criteria. I understand that sexual contact is probably most effective way to share your nasties but maybe it would make more sense to ask how many partners you have had in the approriate time rather than who its been with.

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By *hetalkingstoveMan
over a year ago

London

I'm a regular donor (monthly as I do plasma rather than whole blood) and they do screen every donation (although this is obviously not guaranteed to mean the blood is safe when it gets to a patient)

You also have to answer 20 or so questions every time.

What seems unfair is that a person is trusted to be honest when asked, for example, "have you had sex with a prostitute in the last 12 months" (they word it more nicely than this!) - but gay people are seemingly not trusted to answer honestly to, say, "have you been in a monogamous relationship where you've both been HIV tested", for example.

Up until recently it was a total ban on gay men so things are moving in the right direction.

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