Can I Join the Bone Marrow Registry?

To register to become a bone marrow donor, you must meet the normal eligibility criteria to become a blood donor, and be under 45 years of age.

To become a bone marrow donor, you must be aged between 18 and 45, and be willing to remain on the panel until you are 55. Additionally, the normal criteria for blood donation applies.

You can take our quick blood donor eligibility quiz to learn if you are eligible. Then, call 1800 731 137 to make a blood donation appointment. 

Maximising patients opportunities to find a matching donor

When you join the Irish Unrelated Bone Marrow Registry, you are joining the registry to be available for any patient worldwide. This maximises the chances of all and any patients finding a suitable donor because it sources donors worldwide, rather than just from one country. 

You can't join the Irish Unrelated Bone Marrow Registry for a specific patient.

How to Join the Registry

Once you attend the blood donation clinic, you can inform the staff there that you wish to register also for the Bone Marrow registry, and they will give you the relevant information and take the required blood sample, as part of your normal blood donation process.

Make sure to tick the question relating joining the Bone Marrow Registry at the top of your Health and Lifestyle questionnaire at your blood donation appointment.

An extra tube of blood will be taken during your blood donation for tissue-typing tests. Your information and tissue-type result will be entered into our national database. You are now a member of the Irish Unrelated Bone Marrow Registry.

This information will also be entered on the WMDA (World Marrow Donor Association) database. If you match a patient, you will be contacted to confirm that you are still healthy and agree to have further testing to confirm the potential match. Your information will remain on the database until you reach the age of 55 years.

If you are not eligible to join the Irish Unrelated Bone Marrow Registry, you can still save lives by giving platelets or blood. Both of these vital donations save thousands of lives every year in Ireland, and new donors are always needed.