To ask if anyone else can't donate blood due to their type?

[Glowup33333]

I've searched for an appointment between now and December 2025, even 2 hours away and there is nothing.
I am AB+ which apparently is a rare type that not many people can receive, so there is low demand for my blood. I donated a couple of years ago but I've been trying for a long time to get an appointment to no avail.
I'm eligible to donate plasma, but my nearest centre is 3 hours away (only 3 in the country) and I was told I may be refused at the appointment due to my weight not being what they required, so it didn't seem worth the risk.

It's a shame but not much I can do, has anyone else had this?

I guess blood has a shelf life so there is no point wasting appts and time taking AB blood if they are having to throw supplies out whereas people like me who are O- and so our blood can be used for everyone are a better use of resources in getting blood from.

I'm O- so a universal donor, and they are like vampires around me! I can only get my own blood group (were I ever to need a donation) but everyone can receive mine. I can't always donate because of anaemia, though.

No biscuits anymore. It’s crisps now!

I am A- but I have blood they can give to new babies so they always call me.

I have no idea what blood group I am.
No one has ever told me.
Ive been giving blood for years
So I’m guessing from reading this thread I must be ‘vanilla’ as @AlbertCamusflage nicely puts it.
I have an appointment in May so I’m determined to find out next time.

Not true, 0 neg can be given in an emergency. But the vast majority of blood transfusions are not an emergency, the correct blood type is given, with multiple checks done first.

I have 2 blood cards - O pos and O neg.

It's called du variant apparently.

I'm actually positive, but with so little anti D (or something, I don't know), that 99 times out of 100 my blood will show as O neg.

It's fine for me as neg is universal, but they can't be giving my positive (weak as it may be) to neg patients.

Please don’t ruin it for me. Finding out I’m eligible to use the O - priority helpline or whatever it’s called is the closest I’ve ever got to being a VIP 😂

DH is AB+ and donates blood every few months. He's also donated plasma. Does it depend on where you live and what the demand is in your area?

I'm also O- and get all the attention.
They keep ringing me up to ask me to donate and when I say 'yes, when should I come?' they cast about in their appointments system and offer me a slot 6 months hence (not joking!!!).
They then continue with the calls.
When I say I'm booked in for 'appointment date' they say they urgently need supplies and could I come sooner. They then ferret around again and realise the appointment I already have is the earliest they've got. Rinse and repeat usually at least monthly until my appointment arrives and we start the whole dance again.
It's not always good to be wanted...

Yes sadly for you in terms of being a donor, AB+ is both very rare and can only be given to others with AB+ blood.

AB+ as others have said has different things in it that other groups don’t have - A, B and Rh+ to put it simply - and others would react badly to it.

Happily for you, you can receive anyone else’s blood! Which means you don’t have to worry about things like travelling in specific parts of the world.

The one they want most is O- which has none of those additional bits. They also want all O and A groups a lot I think.

I'm AB+ and they asked me to stop donating after I had my first baby. There's some more info here:

www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/nhsbt-asks-abplus-women-to-donate-blood-less-frequently/

If you have an online blood.co.uk account it should say on there! Otherwise I think if you can find your donor number you can sign up for one.

Thanks for all the replies, it's a shame but never mind, can try to help in other ways !

My DS is O- and I will encourage him to donate when he’s older.

I’m A- and have donated several times in my life but I can’t do it any more as I take a medication that prevents it.

DD is O+ so I think they’d normally want hers too but she can’t donate due to having had blood transfusions as a baby.

Because AB+ is the universal recipient (can receive any blood group).
AB+ blood can only be received by AB+, so it isn't worth the effort of drawing and storing it.

AB- can receive all negative blood types.

O- is the universal donor. It can be received by all blood types.
O+ can donate to all other positive blood types, including AB+.

A and B types, both positive and negative, can only be received by A and B pos and neg types respectively.

Rhesus positive types can receive both pos and neg blood, while rhesus negative can only receive negative of compatible blood types.

O blood types are more sought after for donation.
O- is the most valuable since it's compatible with all other types and the only type O- can receive.

Although this info is about 9 years old, I've checked in every couple of years since then and told the same still applies so I haven't been able to donate for about 12 years.

Me too !!! They gave me a special gold card saying my blood is particularly suitable for babies - way to make you feel special eh ??

I'm an O type but was not allowed to give blood in the US until a couple of years ago thanks to a ban on donors who had lived in or spent time in the UK and Ireland in the 1980s, the era of mad cow disease. It seemed to menit was a silly idea to ban such donors for so long because it must have been obvious to whoever is in charge of these matters that blood donations were going ahead in Ireland and the UK without problems.

We should get better biscuits than the others.

Yes, the weight criteria are clearly available, you don't have to go to an appointment and be turned away. There will be many very small women who don't have enough blood to spare!

Are you on the bone marrow registry? I signed up on my first blood donation and have been contacted as a match before but i was 2nd in line to a closer match after further testing. Even if you never get contacted I like to think that i could help somebody one day if they needed it.

It can do. At one time I was living in staff accommodation in a hospital very close to a blood bank so I they asked me not to do routine donations but be on a sort of 'on call' register.

I am A- so I can donate to A- or +, AB - or +.

There was a news story a couple of years ago, a British (I think) couple involved in a car crash in Asia and although their blood groups were not common in the country they were in they asked back packers to donate because they were more likely to match.

I'm O- and they call me all the time, but never seem to produce a viable appointment. The system is a mess.

Men and women can donate plasma.
I was told not to bother with the plasma screening/registration because my iron is only ever just above their threshold (currently on a 12 month ban for being anaemic), so I maybe you have heard cases of women being told it's not suitable for them.

I have a rare blood type, you’d think I’d remember what, but I don’t, and have had a blood transfusion, so thank you. 🩷

People so kind as you, have saved my life