🎬 Becoming a bone marrow donor in 3 steps
Updated: 55 minutes ago
Our short video sums it up in 10 seconds: donating bone marrow is simple. Here are the 3 steps to sign up, and what happens next.
1. Are you between 18 and 35?
Anyone aged 18 to 35 and in good health can join the bone marrow donor registry. Once registered, you stay on it until you turn 60.
2. Sign up online
It all starts with a health questionnaire that takes just a few minutes on the official website dondemoelleosseuse.fr.
3. A saliva sample, at home or at a center
You receive a home sampling kit: a simple swab from the inside of your cheek, to send back in the prepaid envelope. You can also go to a donation center. That's it!
What happens next?
Being registered doesn't mean you will donate. You will be contacted only if you are a match for a patient, which is rare: the chance of finding a compatible donor outside one's own family is about 1 in a million.
If that day comes, in 8 out of 10 cases the donation is made from the blood, with no anesthetic. Otherwise, the cells are collected from the pelvic bone (not the spine), under a short general anesthetic.
Why it matters to us
For some serious blood diseases, a bone marrow transplant can be a treatment. The more of us there are on the registry, the better the chance that patients, including children, will find their donor.
❤️ Are you between 18 and 35? Sign up here, and share this video with the people around you: it could convince someone.
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