Be The Match
Be The Match Registry Mission:
To educate and register donors for the Be The Match Registry, to promote awareness of the life-saving need for marrow or peripheral blood donations from adult donors to patients awaiting transplant, and to raise funds for donor testing, typing and recruitment.
It is estimated that more than 35,000 adults and children could benefit from a marrow or blood cell transplant each year.
Patients diagnosed with leukemia, lymphomas or other blood cancers make up approximately 85 percent of transplants facilitated by the Be The Match Registry. The remaining patients undergo transplant to treat a variety of immune system and inherited disorders.
In 1991, Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center was recognized as an accredited donor center for the Be The Match Registry. We have educated and recruited more than 90,000 potential donors who are willing to donate marrow or blood cells to help save the life of anyone, anywhere in the world.
There is a need for more potential donors, especially from diverse populations. Because tissue types are inherited in the same way as hair or eye color, a patient's best chance of finding a match is a brother or sister. Only 30 percent of patients have a suitably matched donor in their family. The next best chance of finding a match is between people who share a similar racial and ethnic background.
The Be The Match Registry of more than 5.5 million potential volunteer donors and more than 40,000 cord blood units is the largest and most diverse in the world. Even so, the registry is not yet diverse enough to assure all patients an equal chance of finding a match. The Be The Match Registry continues to add new tissue types to the registry through targeted recruitment of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
How Do I Join?
A person of any race, ethnicity or gender who is 18 to 60 (up until 61st birthday) years old and who meets donation health guidelines can become a volunteer potential marrow or blood stem cell donor. All potential donors will:
- Be given information about the marrow and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation processes
- Complete a brief health questionnaire to verify your eligibility to join the registry
- Sign a form consenting to have your tissue type listed on the registry until your 61st birthday
Other Resources
All Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center Find a Neighborhood Donor Center will be accepting those interested in becoming potential donors.
For more information, call (713) 791-6697.