What disqualifies you from donating bone marrow?

The list of things that usually rule you out is short and specific: active cancer (most types), being HIV-positive, hepatitis B or C, serious bleeding disorders such as hemophilia, most active autoimmune disease, serious heart disease, and current chemotherapy. Pregnancy and breastfeeding pause donation temporarily rather than ending it.

Almost everything else — healed tattoos, controlled diabetes or blood pressure, common medications, a higher BMI within range, being a smoker, a past mild illness, being in your late thirties — falls into a second bucket that just needs a closer look. Most people in this bucket are still eligible.

Here is the part that matters most: you do not decide your own disqualification. You give your health history at signup, and the registry — using current medical guidance — makes the final determination. Rules also differ by registry and country, so a 'no' in one place is not always a 'no' everywhere.

When people ask what disqualifies them, they are usually picturing a long, intimidating list. The reality is the opposite. There is a short bucket of conditions that usually rule donation out, and a much larger bucket of things that sound disqualifying but generally are not. Sorting your own worry into the right bucket is most of the work.

The first bucket exists to protect two people at once — the patient receiving the transplant and you, the donor. A serious bleeding disorder, active cancer, or a bloodborne infection can make donation unsafe for one or both of you, so these are screened out carefully. The American Cancer Society describes how donor and recipient health are both reviewed before any stem cell transplant proceeds.

The second bucket is where nearly all the false alarms live. A tattoo you got two years ago, blood pressure you keep in range with a daily pill, a common antidepressant, a few extra pounds — none of these is an automatic stop. They are flags the registry reviews, not walls. The point of this page is to move you out of the bucket you feared and into the one you actually belong in.

These are the conditions that typically rule donation out under standard US and most registry guidance. They are specific and, for most people, easy to rule out. The Jada Bascom Foundation's companion page on who can donate covers each of these in the context of full eligibility.

Active cancer is generally disqualifying for most types, because of both the donor's health and the small risk to the recipient. Some cancers treated and resolved years ago — often more than five — may be reconsidered depending on the type and your current health, so a cancer history is not always permanent. Current chemotherapy is disqualifying while it is ongoing.

Bloodborne infections are firm exclusions: being HIV-positive, or having hepatitis B or C, typically rules out marrow donation. Serious bleeding disorders such as hemophilia are disqualifying because the donation process itself would not be safe for you. Most active autoimmune diseases — conditions like lupus or multiple sclerosis under active treatment — are usually disqualifying as well, though registries assess these individually.

Serious heart disease, such as a recent heart attack or active cardiovascular treatment, is generally disqualifying. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are different in kind — they pause donation temporarily rather than ending it, and you can typically register and become available again afterward. Even within this bucket, the National Cancer Institute notes that donor selection weighs the whole picture, not a single label.

This is the bucket almost everyone is actually in. These are the worries that keep eligible people from registering, and the great majority of them clear review. Each one below has its own detailed page if you want the specifics.

Healed tattoos and piercings do not disqualify you. Most registries simply ask that the ink be healed — often for around 12 months — because the waiting period is about ruling out bloodborne infection, not about the tattoo itself. Controlled diabetes and well-managed high blood pressure generally sit in the acceptable column; a daily pill that keeps a condition in range is not the same as an uncontrolled disease. Common medications — statins, birth control, many antidepressants — typically do not rule you out.

A higher BMI within the registry's range, being a current or former smoker, a past mild illness or routine surgery, and being in the upper part of the preferred age window (the late thirties, and at some registries beyond) all generally fall here too. Age cutoffs vary: many registries focus on roughly 18 to 40 because younger donor cells are linked to better outcomes, while some accept registration older, up to 55 or 60 in certain programs. The Cleveland Clinic describes the donor screening as a health-history review designed to confirm donation is safe, not to find reasons to turn people away.

If your worst-case worry lives in this bucket — and statistically it probably does — the honest answer to 'does this disqualify me' is almost always 'no, but let the registry confirm it.'

No web page can disqualify you, and neither can a friend, a forum, or your own best guess. Eligibility is a determination the registry makes from your actual health history, against its own current medical guidelines. Those guidelines differ from registry to registry and country to country, which is exactly why hard universal numbers are misleading.

The HRSA C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program oversees the US donor system, and the registries that operate under it apply detailed, regularly updated criteria. A condition that defers you at one registry may be acceptable at another, and guidance shifts over time as the evidence does. That is a feature, not a loophole — it means the people with the full medical picture are the ones making the call.

This is also why 'joining is not donating' matters here. Registering is a cheek swab and a health-history form. You are added to the pool, and you are only contacted if you turn out to be a possible match for a specific patient — at which point there is a second, more detailed health screening, and you can still ask questions or decline before anything happens. Nothing is locked in by signing up.