Are you a donor?

Havoc · #1 10-04-2009, 09:39 AM

I'd like to see how the members of this forum stand when it comes to donating your organs when you die. Hence the poll. Feel free to explain your reasoning.

I myself am a donor. I have no more use for my organs and it would be a waste not to donate organs which, in my case, have not been damaged by smoking, drinking or drug use.

used:) · #2 10-04-2009, 09:48 AM

Yes I am. My parts are your parts.

I still think we should move in the direction of cultivatng organs from stem cells, making the struggle of obtaining usable organs a thing of the past.

AlexFili · #3 10-04-2009, 10:03 AM

I might consider being a donor in the future, but right now... I feel kind of defensive about any of my organs at the moment. I guess it's a kind of spiritual thing as well. A lot of people want their body to be 'whole' when buried.

Stem cell research can really help a lot of people.

Pilot · #4 10-04-2009, 10:05 AM

I am. What do I care.

NO I NEED MY ORGANS. THEY'RE MINE.

The way I look at things, my entire body has been given to me 'on loan' for a short period of time. I enjoy it while I can; how can I complain once my time is up and someone else needs me for parts?

Bullet Magnet · #5 10-04-2009, 10:15 AM

I haven't got a card, nor am I on an register right now. But on a hospital bed I will make my wishes clear, and I know my next of kin would have done so even as a child: it's open season, boys, harvest me!

***Wil*** · #6 10-04-2009, 10:36 AM

I think I'm on the organ donor register. I signed up to it when I got my provisional driving license, but I haven't had any confirmation. I'd better look into that.

I would be a blood donor, but the National Blood Service is homophobic. Even if I weren't banned for life I would boycott them until they change their policies.

AlexFili · #7 10-04-2009, 10:38 AM

Homophobic? Can I ask in what way?

Pilot · #8 10-04-2009, 10:39 AM

I don't know how they do it here in Britain, but in America you signed up to be an organ donor at the Department of Motor Vehicles. They put it on your license and all it is is a quick question, "You wanna be a donor, hon?"

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I would be a blood donor, but the National Blood Service is homophobic. Even if I weren't banned for life I would boycott them until they change their policies.

That's because the blood of gays is actually an extremely caustic acid.

***Wil*** · #9 10-04-2009, 10:40 AM

Yeah, that's a means of signing up, as I say. But you can also register without it ever involving your driving license.

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Homophobic? Can I ask in what way?

If you are a man who has had sex with a man (MSM) you are banned for life. The National Blood Service claims that this is because MSMs have the highest rate of HIV infection: and one third of all people newly diagnosed as being HIV+ are indeed MSMs (although that means the two thirds aren’t MSMs).

All blood donated is screened, but they say, quite rightly, that no screening can be 100% effective, especially in cases where infection occured less than six months prior. It has been determined that "allowing MSMs who practice safe sex to donate blood would result in only one HIV-positive donation slipping through every 5,769 years". So yeah. The Nation Blood Service is endangering thousands of people's lives by having extremely low stocks of blood and using stale blood for transfusions just to protect that one, potential person. Whose life would probably still be extended by the transfusion by a number of years.

T-nex · #10 10-04-2009, 10:40 AM

I'll probly sign up as organ donor at some point... but I dunno.. the whole thing scares me. Im for organ donating and I think it only makes sense. But I'm also posessive.. and I also think about my family... The fact that they can't see you for a while after your death because they need the organs or something like that.

OddjobAbe · #11 10-04-2009, 10:43 AM

I am a donor, and I am happy to be one. I don't like the thought of being sliced open and mutilated, but I'll be dead, so what will it matter?

Bullet Magnet · #12 10-04-2009, 10:45 AM

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I would be a blood donor, but the National Blood Service is homophobic. Even if I weren't banned for life I would boycott them until they change their policies.

The blood services of most of the world's nations are Anglophobic (except the UK, obviously).

Josh · #13 10-04-2009, 10:45 AM

I want my organs to go to science, not humans. That way they will help more people.

Havoc · #14 10-04-2009, 10:46 AM

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I would be a blood donor, but the National Blood Service is homophobic. Even if I weren't banned for life I would boycott them until they change their policies.

That this is still possible in this day and age... I'd start killing people.

Josh · #15 10-04-2009, 10:48 AM

How is the NBS Homophobic? Do they think that gay blood is made of acid or something?

OddjobAbe · #16 10-04-2009, 10:49 AM

It is. Deoxyribonucleic acid.
Not exactly made of it, but where is the joke then?

T-nex · #17 10-04-2009, 10:50 AM

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I am a donor, and I am happy to be one. I don't like the thought of being sliced open and mutilated, but I'll be dead, so what will it matter?

The thing that's holding me back here.. Is more my respect to everyone that I love... I dunno how they'd react to know that someone was cutting up my dead body.

Maybe I should ask. I dunno.

Bullet Magnet · #18 10-04-2009, 10:53 AM

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How is the NBS Homophobic? Do they think that gay blood is made of acid or something?

It's not about being gay, it's about whether you have had sex with other men.

***Wil*** · #19 10-04-2009, 10:54 AM

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The blood services of most of the world's nations are Anglophobic (except the UK, obviously).

How so?

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It is. Deoxyribonucleic acid.
Not exactly made of it, but where is the joke then?

Thank you. xxx

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The thing that's holding me back here.. Is more my respect to everyone that I love... I dunno how they'd react to know that someone was cutting up my dead body.

Maybe I should ask. I dunno.

You should definitely talk it over with your family. Consider that donated organs can often be preferentially given to a member of your family (because of the decreased likelihood of tissue rejection). The chance is slim, bt you could very well save a member of your family.

Fuzzle Guy · #20 10-04-2009, 10:56 AM

People who refuse to save another human beings life out of some religious belief should ask themselves why on Earth they would follow such a religion in the first place.

Love thy neighbour, just keep a distance and NEVER give anybody something of yours that they're in desperate need of, but you don't even need any more.

Edit: Wow this is an active thread.

shaman · #21 10-04-2009, 10:58 AM

I would like to become an organ doner, I wouldn't say i'm actively planning to be one. It's just a little obscure possiblity for my future.

Pilot · #22 10-04-2009, 10:58 AM

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It's not about being gay, it's about whether you have had sex with other men.

Good point.

Isn't this concept of not allowing homosexuals to donate blood just a throwback to the archaic idea that "AIDS is a gay disease?"

Bullet Magnet · #23 10-04-2009, 11:00 AM

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How so?

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In 2004 a new report published in the Lancet medical journal showed that vCJD can be transmitted by blood transfusions. The finding alarmed healthcare officials because a large epidemic of the disease might arise in the near future. There is no test to determine if a blood donor is infected and in the latent phase of vCJD. In reaction to this report, the British government banned anyone who had received a blood transfusion since January 1980 from donating blood. From 1999 there was a ban in the UK for using UK blood to manufacture factional products such as albumin.

On May 28, 2002, the United States Food and Drug Administration instituted a policy that excludes from donation anyone who spent at least six months in certain Western European countries, (or three months in the United Kingdom), from 1980 to 1996. Given the large number of U.S. military personnel and their dependents residing in Europe, it was expected that over 7% of donors would be deferred due to the policy. Later changes to this policy have relaxed the restriction to a cumulative total of five years or more of civilian travel in Western European countries (six months or more if military). The three-month restriction on travel to the UK, however, has not been changed.

The American Red Cross' policy is as follows: During the period January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1996, spending a total time of three months or more in the Channel Islands, England, the Falkland Islands, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales precludes individuals from donating. Since January 1, 1980 to present, spending a total time of five years or more in the above countries and countries in Europe.

A similar policy applies to potential donors to the Australian Red Cross' Blood Service, precluding people who have spent a cumulative time of six months or more in the United Kingdom between 1980 and 1996.

The Singapore Red Cross precludes potential donors who have spent a cumulative time of three months or more in the United Kingdom between 1980 and 1996.

In New Zealand anyone who has lived in the UK, France or the Republic of Ireland for a total of six months or more between 1980 and 1996 is prohibited from donating blood.

Similar regulations are in place in Germany, where anyone who has spent six months or more living in the UK or Northern Ireland between January 1980 and December 1996 is permanently barred from donating blood.

As of 1999, Health Canada announced a policy to defer individuals from donating blood if they have lived within the United Kingdom for one month or more from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1996. In 2000, the same policy was applied to people who have resided in France, for at least three months from January 1980 to December 1996. Canada will not accept blood from a person who has spent more than six months in a Western European country since January 1, 1980.

The Association of Blood Donors of Denmark precludes potential donors who have spent a cumulative time of at least twelve months in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 1996.

The Swiss Blutspendedienst SRK precludes potential donors who have spent a cumulative time of at least six months in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 1996.

***Wil*** · #24 10-04-2009, 11:04 AM

That doesn't mean it's not homophobic, though. It's still unfair discrimination against MSMs (and women who have had sex with MSMs) because they aren't allowed to donate blood even if they have safe sex. Meanwhile, men who have sex with prostitutes and anyone taking drugs intraveinously can stroll in and they won't be questioned about it.

There is probably a great discrepancy between the aforementioned third of newly diagnosed HIV+ people being MSM, and what percentage of HIV+ blood donated is actually from MSMs who lie to donate.

used:) · #25 10-04-2009, 11:04 AM

The way I see it, the body is merely a vessel for the person. Once they're dead, they're gone. The body is an empty shell. I think there's sort of a tradition growing in part of my family of getting cremated. I intend to as well. I actually thought about writing into my will that I'd like my ashes to be mixed into fertilizer. I'm not sure how legal this would be though.

As Alcar said at some point before, organ donors should be the ones at the top of the donor list.

Bullet Magnet · #26 10-04-2009, 11:07 AM

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That doesn't mean it's not homophobic, though. It's still unfair discrimination against MSMs (and women who have had sex with MSMs) because they aren't allowed to donate blood even if they have safe sex. Meanwhile, men who have sex with prostitutes and anyone taking drugs intraveinously can stroll in and they won't be questioned about it.

There is probably a great discrepancy between the aforementioned third of newly diagnosed HIV+ people being MSM, and what percentage of HIV+ blood donated is actually from MSMs who lie to donate.

I agree, I'm just a stickler for accuracy.

***Wil*** · #27 10-04-2009, 11:08 AM

I'm still waiting for the rules to change so that your organs can be donated unless you're on an exemption register.

abe is now! · #28 10-04-2009, 12:06 PM

I'm sorry but I will not become one. Sincerely I want to be buried with my body... intact.

shaman · #29 10-04-2009, 12:07 PM

I know it's incredibly silly, but i have a totally uncontrolable fear of my body beaing burned.

Bullet Magnet · #30 10-04-2009, 12:26 PM

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I'm sorry but I will not become one. Sincerely I want to be buried with my body... intact.

Come on... you'll never know it.