GERMANY · DKMS
Joining a stem cell donor registry from Germany
For people who live in Germany. Live somewhere else? Find your country.
2 registries sign up people who live in Germany. You only need to join one. Here’s who can join, how it works and what happens after.
You can join here, through DKMS.
Browsing from another country? See how joining works where you live.
Ways to join
2 services sign up people who live in Germany. You only need to join one.
DKMS
Run by DKMS Donor Center gGmbH, a nonprofit organization.
17–55years old to join
- Who it’s for
- People who live in Germany, aged 17 to 55.
- Language
- German
Why this one first Open to people living in Germany from 17 to 55, online with a home cheek-swab kit; ZKRD, the national coordinator, takes no registrations itself.
Stefan-Morsch-Stiftung
Stefan-Morsch-Stiftung is a nonprofit organization.
16–60years old to join
- Who it’s for
- People who live in Germany, aged 16 to 60.
- Language
- German
Who this suits People aged 16 (with a parent’s consent) to 60. It asks people over 40 to pay toward the cost of typing.
Link checked Read the registry’s rules (opens in a new tab)
Information
ZKRD
Run by ZKRD Zentrales Knochenmarkspender-Register für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland gemeinnützige GmbH, a nonprofit organization.
- Languages
- German and English
Who can join
These are DKMS’s rules, in short. Its own pages have the full list, and the registry decides.
- Where you live
- Germany.
- Age to join
- 17 to 55
- How long you stay on the registry
- Until your 61st birthday, unless you ask to leave.
- Your health
- Most healthy adults can join. Some conditions rule it out. Read the registry’s health rules (opens in a new tab)
What happens after you join
From your sample to a possible call. Each registry runs its own process; these are the steps they share.
Check you can join.
DKMS sets its own age range and health rules. Its own pages have them.
Give a sample.
The registry takes a sample to record your tissue type. Its own pages say how.
You’re on the registry.
Your tissue type is recorded, so searches for patients can find you.
If you match a patient.
The registry contacts you, checks you’re still willing and well, and arranges more tests.
Donation.
If you go ahead, you’ll donate blood stem cells or bone marrow. The registry explains what’s involved and supports you through it.
Keep your contact details up to date so the registry can reach you. What donating is like
Questions
Can I join if I’m not a citizen?
Registries usually decide by where you live, not by nationality. DKMS’s own rules say who can join.
I’m already on another country’s registry. Do I join again?
Registries share their lists with searches around the world, so ask your registry before you join a second one.
Is giving blood the same as joining?
Giving blood helps patients who need transfusions. It doesn’t put you on a stem cell donor registry unless that registry says it does.
Who is the Jada Bascom Foundation?
We’re a US charity. We don’t run a registry, and we aren’t part of DKMS. We help people find the official registry where they live.
Live somewhere else?
Registries usually sign up people by where they live, not by nationality.
Learn more
BE SOMEONE’S TORSTEN
The same search found Jada’s donor in Germany.
Jada was a baby in Spokane, Washington, when doctors found she had acute myeloid leukemia. Her match was a stranger five thousand miles away: Torsten, who had joined the DKMS registry at a donor drive in Germany the year before she was born. If you live in Germany, your place in that search starts with DKMS.
CHECKED BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHED
Sources
The registries’ own pages
- DKMS (DKMS Donor Center gGmbH). Deine Stammzellspende hilft (opens in a new tab). Undated.Checked
- DKMS (DKMS Donor Center gGmbH). Stammzellspende: Registriere dich hier! (step 1 of 11, read only) (opens in a new tab). Undated.Checked
- DKMS Donor Center gGmbH. Impressum der DKMS Donor Center gGmbH (opens in a new tab). Undated.Checked
Government and official registers
- Jada Bascom Foundation. About us: Jada’s story. Undated.Checked
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