New Inclusive Screening Process Expands Blood Donor Eligibility

The American Red Cross is now welcoming more donors into its lifesaving mission through updated FDA blood donation eligibility guidelines that eliminate longstanding broad, time-based deferrals based on sexual orientation.

Historic change
Under this new donor screening process, all donors answer the same eligibility questions regardless of gender or sexual orientation and will be assessed for blood donation based on individual risk factors, not on sexual orientation. This change eliminates the FDA’s previous policy that deferred men who have sex with men from giving blood.

The Red Cross celebrates this historic move as significant progress and remains committed to achieving an inclusive blood donation process that treats all potential donors with equality and respect while maintaining the safety of the blood supply. The Red Cross is committed to achieving further progress and will continue to provide data to the FDA in support of making blood donation even more inclusive.

Backed by science
Years of data have demonstrated that this new eligibility screening process ensures a safe blood supply patients can feel confident in. For years, the Red Cross has worked to change the deferral policy concerning men who have sex with men – this work included decades of data collection and assessment to improve transfusion safety, ongoing advocacy to eliminate donor questions based on sexual orientation, and our recent role as a leading contributor in the FDA-funded ADVANCE Study.

More people can now give
This change means many healthy individuals who previously could not give will now be able to support their community through the gift of blood donation.

Andrew Goldstein, a cancer researcher from Los Angeles, was a regular blood donor in his younger years before the FDA’s previous policies made him ineligible to donate as a gay man. His desire to influence change compelled him to register as a participant in the FDA funded ADVANCE Study in 2021, which sought to gather data to evaluate the possibility of moving to an individual donor assessment. He is proud he was able to be part of the study that led to this change and is excited to finally be able to give blood again.

“There’s so much in the world that you can’t help with, and you sometimes have to see people going through difficult times, but something like giving blood feels like something so small that you can do, and it means a lot to me that I’ll be able to do that again,” said Andrew. Now, Andrew and many others are able to share their good health with patients in need of lifesaving transfusions.

Learn more
The Red Cross welcomes everyone who wishes to be part of our humanitarian mission. You can learn more about these updates as part of our Eligibility FAQs. There is also information specific to the LGBTQ+ community on our LGBTQ+ Donors page.