My children can never be donors, what do I tell them?

[Beaaware]

My children are 19, 22, 24, they were all born during the BSE crisis, the other day one of them asked me 'Mum I want to donate my blood when I travel overseas' , I know that this is not possible because all three of my children are banned from doing this in most other countries around the world.
AIBU not tell them exactly why this is, or should I let them find out for themselves, how do you tell your kids that they have potentially been exposed to deadly rogue prions?

So you have 3 children who have a burning desire, when visiting foreign countries to donate blood. Especially Australia.

Are you:

1. afraid that their inability to assist Austrailians with their life's blood will lead to loss of self worth and depression,?
2. afraid that the knowledge that they like every other single person they knew or saw on TV in massive football stadiums and in fact the entire UK population vegetarians and hindus excepted have been exposed to UK beef will cause them to panic and have a nervous breakdown?
3. Projecting your own complete over-reaction at the time on them
4. a campaigning vegetarian
5. having a bet with a friend over how easy it is to start a panic by posting on the internet?

"If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those prions that infected you and you'd stay (in the UK)

I don't know why I did the things I did
I don't know why I posted utter crap
Prions like a knife it can cut deep inside
Prions are like weapons, they wound sometimes (although incredibly rarely)

I didn't really mean to hurt you
I didn't wanna see you go (to Australia to give blood)
I know I made you cry (with frustration), but baby

If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those prions inside you
And you'd stay (in the UK so you can give blood)
If I could reach the stars
I'd give them all to you
Then you'd love me, love me
Like you used to do (before I went completely cuckoo pants-on-head about CJD)"

There you go, OP. I cleared that with Cher herself, just for you.

Every country has its own rules about British citizens being blood donors.

Has the op been tested for mad cow disease, she certainly seems to be one...

ROAR at bruxeur

I think I might love you a little bit, that is Genius .

Didn't the U.S refuse a huge shipment of pies for the starving people displaced by Hurricane Katrina?

Standing ovation for Bruxeur - do we get to vote for best reply??

this is daft. most third world countries don't have shortages of blood (as the local population is happy to donate for small change)

they have shortages of money.

Your kids want to make a difference?
they can donate money

and yes, i don't think this is a big thing.

Bruxeur Seriously though I live overseas and donate all the time

What happened to the pies Blu?

I want to know if the OP actually weaned her children exclusively on beefburgers. That would seem to explain the level of worry, all these years later.

I was born in 1982 & due to having many blood transfusions when i was born (i was 11 weeks early) i cannot give blood, incase i have cjd but that only applies due to the blood transfusions possibly being infected, it really frustrates me that i cannot donate i would willingly every time

The pies? I spent 12 hours in a bleeding thunderstorm loading the meals onto aircraft pallets and they were turned away because they were not vegetarian!

I have also been told that you can only test for cjd on dead tissues so you will never know if you have it or not.

I can't give blood here because I had 2 units when I gave birth to DS (now 20). Funny thing is, I gave blood several times after that until they suddenly decided that I was at risk of BSE.
Seriously, it's because they didn't screen blood they gave you for BSE back then, so you may possibly have picked it up from a diseased donation.
I know I'm a mad cow sometimes but really?

I can't donate here in the USA either, I was on farms and in UK during the BSE thingamy bob. So when anyone asks I say sorry I'm a Mad cow you don't want me. Usually breaks the ice!
If they tried to donate they'd find out they couldn't anyway seeing you have to fill out a questionnaire and they would be sent away at that point.

I live in Saudi Arabia, I was requested by a colleague to donate blood for a child with leukemia, who was in need of regular transfusions...so off I went to the blood bank, and I was very politely told, thank you, you are a lovely person for responding to this request, but hrm you lived in the uk in the 80's and so you are at risk of BSE exposure and we don't accept brit's blood! I was a bit and :( i'd never thought about it, but it's fair enough that other countries don't take that risk...and there's not much I can do about in anyway...so now I am :) I am not all traumatized...nothing I can do now anyway, if I'm gonna get having been exposed to evil nasty prions, it's done now... no point worrying...i'm sure your kids will cope!

Don't you get paid for donating in the US?

Maybe the OP's DC is hoping to make enough money to send a postcard home whilst travelling.

Should read..."I am not at all traumatized" and "if I'm gonna get CJD"

oh my god how on earth will you tell this terrible news

Get a grip. Why didn't you just tell him. Aren't there some rules here about if you've been abroad? Maybe if he wants to do it he should start now rather than waiting til he is in another country.

I'm a vegetarian.

[smuggy mcsmugpants emoticon]

[runs off to book ticket to other side of the world for sole purpose of empying self of blood and thus affirming my otherwise worthless existence]

Forgot to mention, vegetarian AND one of the rarer bood types.

[explodes messily with philanthropic smugness and wastes all the precious uncontaminated blood]