We invite you to join the registry for a chance to give back to the community and potentially save a life.
Many in the LGBTQIA+ community, especially gay men, think that they cannot join the registry or will not be allowed to donate. This is false. Anyone 18 to 35 years old and in general good health may join the registry.
You are needed to help save lives. More than 75 conditions including leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell, and inherited immune disorders can be cured through blood stem cell or bone marrow donation.
This procedure is based solely on finding a match for the patient who is willing to donate and healthy enough to do so. Every donor is evaluated based on the same medical criteria, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identification, or ethnicity.
Through Gift of Life Marrow Registry, members of the LGBTQIA+ community can engage in the lifesaving community service many have wished for.
Joining the marrow registry is simple, just complete a cheek swab kit and a health questionnaire, and you have the potential to save someone’s life. We have many LGBTQIA+ donors and they say helping a patient battle a life-threatening disease is an incredible, fulfilling experience.
Click on the blue “Join Registry" button to order your swab kit, or click on “Give to Circle” to sponsor someone else’s swab kit. Your contribution will help us add more LGBTQIA+ donors to the registry.
When you join Gift of Life’s registry, your information is strictly private and is protected under the same HIPAA regulations as when you see your doctor. When your tissue type is shared on the worldwide marrow registry, only a donor identification number, your age, sex at birth, and tissue type are entered; all other information remains with Gift of Life. Only Gift of Life will initiate contact with you if you are ever found to match a patient in need, and we handle the entire donation process to ensure your safety.
If you would like to run a “Swab With Pride” donor recruitment drive in your community, workplace, or place of worship, please contact our Recruitment Department at info@giftoflife.org.
You can also help spread the word through social media. Click on the image to download a printable PDF. Print it out and take a selfie to share online. Please include the tags:
@GiftOfLifeMarrowRegistry
and
#SwabWithPride
Our LGBTQIA+ donors and recipients have heartwarming stories to share. Click on the links below:
Cody, a high school debate coach and theatre director, donated peripheral blood stem cells to save the life of a 9-year-old girl battling leukemia.
Tony Joe donated bone marrow to save Brianne during her battle with leukemia. They met for the first time in May 2020 at a "Hockey Fights Cancer" event at a Nashville Predators hockey game.
Transplant recipient Rebekah's (r) life was saved by a stem cell donation from her donor Nicole. The two were introduced in January 2022 at Gift of Life's Steps for Life 5k in Boca Raton, Fla.
Aaron (r) donated bone marrow to save Seth's life when he was fighting to survive aplastic anemia, a rare bone marrow cancer. The two met for the first time during an LA Galaxy game for Major League Soccer's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in 2018.
A donor sponsored by Swab With Pride has matched a 52 year old man battling Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.