Can I donate bone marrow?
Common baseline requirements include being within the registry’s adult age range, being generally healthy, and being willing to complete its health screening. The official registry makes the final eligibility decision, and its rules vary by country.
Eligibility and enrollment rules vary by registry • The official registry makes the final decision
The quick answer
Eligibility commonly turns on age, general health, and the conditions in your health history. Each registry applies its own current rules, so this page helps you prepare for the official screening rather than replacing it.
Read the detailed guidance on the bone marrow donor age limit and what may disqualify a donor.
You can likely donate if
You are within the official registry's adult age range, generally healthy, and willing to complete its health-history and consent process. Both men and women can donate.
You probably cannot donate if
The official registry may decline or defer enrollment based on its age range, your health history, a current pregnancy, an active infection, or another condition in its published rules. Do not self-exclude from this summary alone.
The full check happens at signup
You provide your medical history through the registry's enrollment process. It confirms whether you qualify before any further commitment; enrollment may use a cheek swab or an in-person process, depending on the registry.
Eligibility and enrollment rules vary by registry • The official registry makes the final decision
The "only males can donate" myth — what's actually true
A belief that circulates online, and is surprisingly persistent on social media, is that only males can donate bone marrow because female-donor cells are less compatible. That is factually wrong. If you came to this page thinking your gender ruled you out, it almost certainly does not.
Both genders donate bone marrow, and the registry actively recruits both. In fact, women made up 57% of the people who donated worldwide in 2024, according to the WMDA Global Trends Report 2024 — and female donors are matched and go on to donate in large numbers every year.
The myth has a kernel of real science behind it, which is why it persists. When other factors are equal, some research links donor sex to transplant outcomes — in particular, a female donor for a male recipient has been associated with a somewhat higher rate of certain complications, so a transplant team may prefer a male donor for a specific male patient. A large analysis in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (2018) examined donor sex among the non-HLA factors that influence survival. That is one consideration among many, weighed alongside HLA match, donor age, and the patient's condition. It is not a rule, it does not disqualify female donors, and it is not a reason for women to skip registering — the registry needs them.
Eligibility and enrollment rules vary by registry • The official registry makes the final decision
Detailed eligibility requirements
These are common considerations, not a universal checklist. Exact thresholds differ by registry and country, and the registry always makes the final call from the health history you provide.
Age
- NMDP currently recruits eligible U.S. residents ages 18-35.
- Other registries publish different minimum and maximum join ages and separate stay-on ages.
- Why younger: medical evidence links younger donor cells to better outcomes, which is why registries prioritize younger adults within their current recruitment range.
Health basics
- Generally good overall health
- Body-size and medication requirements vary; confirm them with the registry
- No active infections
- No serious chronic conditions in active treatment
Conditions that disqualify
- Current NMDP cancer rules depend on the cancer type and treatment history; other registries set their own current rules
- Current NMDP guidance does not permit donation after an HIV diagnosis
- Current NMDP guidance evaluates hepatitis history and risk and does not permit donation with serious liver disease such as hepatitis B or C
- Current NMDP guidance says many severe systemic autoimmune diseases prevent donation
- The official registry serving your country decides how a bleeding disorder affects donation safety
- Current NMDP guidance says heart disease in general prevents donation
- Current NMDP guidance does not permit donation when asthma requires regular daily oral steroids
- Pregnancy — NMDP temporarily defers donation during pregnancy until you have fully recovered after delivery.
- Breastfeeding — If you are breastfeeding and called as a match, NMDP directs you to contact your donor representative to discuss your options.
- Current NMDP cancer guidance does not permit donation when treatment included chemotherapy or radiation
Conditions that may still be eligible
- Recent tattoos or piercings, subject to the registry's infection-risk review rather than an automatic wait
- Some controlled, well-managed conditions, depending on the registry's current guidance and your treatment
- Medications and their underlying conditions, which NMDP directs donors to discuss with a donor representative
- Recent surgery or hospitalization, which current NMDP guidance requires evaluating
- Smoking history, which the official registry reviews within your overall health history
- Past illnesses, which the official registry serving your country reviews under its condition-specific guidance
Specific scenarios
- Can I donate with diabetes? Under current NMDP guidance, well-controlled diabetes may be allowed after careful evaluation, while insulin use or serious diabetes-related complications prevent donation. Other registries set their own current rules.
- Can I donate after cancer? NMDP publishes condition-specific rules based on cancer type and treatment history, including some in-situ and skin cancers and some solid tumors treated more than five years ago without chemotherapy, radiation, or recurrence. Other registries set their own current rules.
- Can I donate with tattoos? NMDP evaluates tattoos from the past year for signs or symptoms of infection. Piercing review depends on whether shared or nonsterile instruments were used. See the NMDP medical guidelines and let the official registry apply its current rules.
- Can I donate at 50? It depends on the registry's join and stay-on rules. NMDP does not currently recruit new U.S. registry members at 50; another country's registry may use a different range.
How often can you donate?
- Donating more than once in a lifetime is medically possible, though repeat donations are uncommon.
- Any second donation is decided case by case by the registry, based on your health and the patient's need.
- Some donors are asked to donate again for the same patient (a “boost”) in addition to the original donation.
- Your blood-forming stem cells regenerate within about four to six weeks, which is what makes multiple donations across a lifetime medically feasible.
The federal donor program in the US is administered through the HRSA C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, which publishes the donor program data behind these figures, and the National Cancer Institute explains how the donated stem cells are replaced by the body after collection. Whether a donor gives more than once is set by individual registries as a matter of policy, decided case by case.
The reason repeat donation is possible at all is that you do not lose your stem cells permanently. The cells you give are the blood-forming kind your body continuously makes, and they return to their baseline level within a few weeks. A donation does not reduce your own long-term blood or immune function. That is also why a registry can ask a willing donor to give again for the same patient if the first transplant needs reinforcement, while still keeping a comfortable gap between collections.
What happens at signup
- The official registry serving your country explains whether enrollment uses an online form, a mailed cheek swab, or an in-person process.
- You complete a health-history form — this is where the eligibility filter actually happens.
- You complete that registry's sampling step; the registry performs or coordinates HLA typing and maintains your profile.
- If you are matched in the future, you go through a second, more detailed health screening before any donation.
- You can decline at any point. There is no obligation until you confirm at that second screening.
For the actual registration flow and how to find the right registry for your country, see how to find your bone marrow registry.
Eligibility and enrollment rules vary by registry • The official registry makes the final decision
Frequently asked questions
What to do next
If eligibility was your main question and it is answered, here are the next things most people want to know before they register.
- Wondering if it’s painful? Does bone marrow donation hurt?
- Wondering about compensation? Do you get paid to donate?
- Curious how the donation goes? How bone marrow donation works
- Curious how matching works? How HLA matching works
- Ready to sign up? Find your bone marrow registry
You now know the age range, the conditions that matter, and the truth about who can donate. Find the official registry serving your country to review its current rules and complete its eligibility process.
Eligibility and enrollment rules vary by registry • The official registry makes the final decision