How to join

How do I join the NZ Bone Marrow Donor Registry?

If you meet the criteria, you can join the NZ Registry by donating a unit of blood (470mls) at a NZ Blood Service (NZBS) Donor Centre or Mobile. Simply ask about joining the NZ Bone Marrow Donor Registry when you register for your blood donation.

Where can I join?

Click here to find your nearest NZBS Donor Centre or upcoming Mobile

A Mobile is when a team of staff from NZBS visit towns and set up equipment in a suitable room to collect blood from donors on site.

What will happen when I join?

Before your blood donation you will also be asked to sign a NZBMDR consent form allowing an extra tube of blood to be taken for tissue-typing tests. Your tissue type record will be entered into a national database and compared with patients needing bone marrow transplants. If you match a patient, you will be contacted to confirm that you are still healthy and agree to have another blood sample taken to confirm the potential match.

There is no NZBS Donor Centre or Mobile near me, how do I join?

You must donate 470mls of blood with the NZ Blood Service to join the NZ Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Please contact us if you’d like some help a finding donation site near you.

Please contact us if you are currently aged between 18 – 60 years of age and  have been tissue-typed in the past either…

  • when you became a platelet donor or
  • in the search for a donor for a family member or
  • if you joined an overseas Bone Marrow Registry but are now living in NZ

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