Male asked if I am pregnant when donating blood

[slipperypenguin]

I am a GC male. I am a regular blood donor, but today for the first time I was specifically asked by the nurse to confirm if I am / could possibly be pregnant.

I laughed as I thought she was joking as I felt it was obvious I am a biological male and therefore could not possibly be pregnant, but she told me they were "inclusive" and had to confirm.

This was in Scotland at a regular blood donor clinic.

Am I just out of touch with the times or is the world gone man? I can confirmed that I am a male yet am forced to answer this question in order to donate.

If the NHS asked for your sexual history, your voting history etc when donating blood, would you answer?

People requiring blood would be harmed by your refusal to answer those questions.

It seems ludicrous, but in the near future will medical professionals actually believe men and women are biologically interchangeable? Given the current state of education it seems possible - this whole argument is baffling to anyone with a basic knowledge of human biology yet here we are.

I do appreciate what you are saying here. I think it's a scandal people disconnected from their bodily reality are allowed to lie on their records as if it's the truth. You can't change sex however much you may want to amd however convincing your plastic surgery is. It's a collective madness.

Huh?

Why would I refuse to answer those questions?
Anything on the blood donation form will be relevant to whether they can accept your blood or not. Theyre not asking if you could potentially be pregnant for a laugh.

Exactly this. Think about who would benefit. Do something amazing and save a life. 🙂

So, you would fill in a form asking for you to record how you'd voted in previous elections, so long as it had Blood Donation Service at the top?

@Cactusprick thank you 😊

Sexual history can be a sign post to potential for being HIV+, lifestyle questions can also be an indicator of activity that could affect the blood.

I have family members who were asked their sexual orientation when booking a covid jab. Completely irrelevant to the activity but asked as part of the NHS's data mining activity. They also record when individuals refused to answer the question.

Essentially you're saying that the NHS should be allowed to ask whatever they want if the aim is to get more blood donations.

@ReunitedThorns pretty sure they do ask for relevant sexual history.

Never been asked how many pregnancies i've had. I would imagine that the wee barcodes they attach to the blood says what the blood can be used for. I am +ve for cytomegalovirus, for example (most adults are) and my blood is therefore not suitable for infants. Doesn't mean they don't want it at all though as it's useful for many other groups.

@Wishiwasatailor

Sorry for being facetious. If you say you deal with this a lot and it’s genuinely difficult to tell then you’re right.

But surely the issue should be that it’s actually dangerous for medical records to be changed for these confused, deluded individuals who believe you can change your sex.

Plenty of TW on Twitter genuinely seem to believe they’ll be able to get pregnant at some point. It’s terrifying.

Also I’d potentially be concerned about TW’s blood. Can all the cross sex hormones they’re taking affect anything?

man in his 60s can be pretty confident about his sex, man in his early 20s not as confident.

My first thought was

But now I'm just LMAO. Those poor, confused 20 something men, so lacking in penis confidence. .

@CharityShopChic apologies I’ve done some (quick) reading and there were previously some concerns regarding blood products however in 2019 study showed that red blood cells from
previously pregnant women are fine, however there’s still some concerns re platelets and many countries do not accept platelet’s from women who have been pregnant.
I couldn’t find any clear guidance in England but Scotland is not currently recruiting women for platelets and RoI doesn’t accept any women who’s been pregnant for platelets.

For everyone who is offended by simply being asked if you’re pregnant when you very clearly appear to be male and every person who has been offended by
@Wishiwasatailor and @Cactusprick previous posts, can you not see a problem with your being so easily offended?

I agree that the easily offended feelings of trans community and their supporters is causing some very concerning changes.

But how is being just as easily offended in retaliation going to help?

Be objective and remain rational. Don’t fall into the I’m offended, I’m going to get angry and retaliate or make a mountain out of a molehill and miss the real issues.

After reading about the issues presented by the fact that people can change their biological sex on their birth certificates, I now understand why medical professionals have to ask this seemingly ridiculous question. It also highlights the real issues that need to be addressed.

Don’t impulsively react. Carefully consider how to respond.

No you are right on the platelets. That's men only. Biological men though, not women who don't fit the stereotype.

@Delphinium20 there’s been some miscommunication. The uncertainty is from the medical team - an unconscious 60y male they can be confident they are male. An unconscious 20y male staff might need to consider whether they could be female and check

I'm no expert but if someone is there for his prostate exam then I don't think that he's likely to be pregnant.

This is harming society, harming science and harming vulnerable children who are being fed this. You know of course that the vast vast majority of children who apparently identify as trans are vulnerable girls from abusive backgrounds and/or with diagnosed or suspected ASD

It is not 'trans' most of the time its other MH or trauma issues which are being brushed aside and ignored in favour of 'being trans'. Gender stereotypes are being reinforced and cemented more rigidly. If you're a girl who isnt all giggly, fluffy, pink and subservient then you're a boy or non binary, thats what kids are hearing these days. Or if you're a boy that likes make up and sparkles you're a girl.

@BananaBan I agree but you seem to be going for the wrong people here, doctors and nurses are required in their job to ask these questions. The decision to be inclusive is made by people well above them in the pecking order and it's either ask everyone the pregnancy question, call everyone 'they' until a patient explicitly tells you otherwise or lose your job for misconduct. It's absolutely unreal and it's happening everywhere.

@HermioneKipper no worries 😊
I agree there needs to be a way of ensuring there is some sort of identification. Transmen who have their sex changed on medical records no longer automatically invited for smears so it is a health concern. As previous posters said there are different parameters for tests too
im not an expert in blood transfusions but men and women on synthetic hormones hrt and testosterone for endocrine issues are not excluded from donating blood as far as I’m aware.

ImustLearn2Cook
For everyone who is offended by simply being asked if you’re pregnant when you very clearly appear to be male and every person who has been offended by
@Wishiwasatailor and @Cactusprick previous posts, can you not see a problem with your being so easily offended?

You are assuming people are feeling offended, we aren't. Its ridiculous and dangerous for healthcare providers to pretend humans can change sex.

Maybe she thought you were a trans man?

Sex should be recorded accurately and they should go by that.

As above. It's not about being offended. It's about far more than that - from the mangling of statistics to render them meaningless to the potential death of a transperson due to the incorrect sex being recorded on their NHS records.