Contacting your recipient

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We know donating blood stem cells is a big deal—you’re helping save someone’s life! Once you’ve donated, you may want to connect with your recipient or receive updates on their health. While we appreciate your excitement, there are some confidentiality and privacy policies that need to be followed.

Direct contact between donors and recipients is a choice, not an obligation. For many reasons, you or your recipient may choose not to have any contact with each other. Transplant and donation are very personal emotional experiences, which people deal with in different ways. 

In many cases, contacting your recipient is possible after a waiting period of at least one year. However, each case is unique, and waiting periods vary by country—and some countries don’t allow direct contact between donors and recipients at any time. These confidentiality policies are in place to protect the privacy of both you and your recipient.

If your donation was cryopreserved (Opens in a new tab), the opportunity for you to correspond or potentially meet your recipient would only occur after your blood stem cells were requested on behalf of a specific searching patient, which could be many months or years after your donation.

Some transplant centers may provide an anonymous update on the status of your recipient within the first year after transplant. Additionally, during that first year, transplant centers in most countries will allow anonymous contact. This includes sending cards and letters without revealing your identities or including any information that could reveal your identity. However, keep in mind that some transplant centers don’t provide updates or allow anonymous communication at any time. 

During the anonymous contact stage, all letters and cards must be sent through your donor center, and your communications will be checked to ensure that no identifying details are shared. 

If your recipient lives in the U.S., you can send: 

• Emails 
• Cards 
• Letters 

Cards, emails, and letters can’t include:

• Personal names: This includes nicknames or initials for you, your family members, friends, pets or doctors. You can use general words like mom, dad, brother or sister.  
• Organizational names: This includes names of hospitals, your employer, sports teams, your registry or military branch.  
• Your location: This includes city, state, country, landmarks or regions.  
• References to organizations, causes, associations or local community groups 
• Photographs 
• Personal dates, such as birthdays or anniversaries 

Please note: If you or your recipient is from a different country, international registries have their own rules to follow.