We [Don't] Want Your Blood

Nosferatu probably
wouldn't be so fussyWhen I was younger, I used to give blood. I lapsed when I got pregnant for Emily because they don't take blood from pregnant women. Several years later, I tried to start giving blood again but they had tightened up the regulations and they no longer wanted my blood because I did not meet all the regulations. One of the new rules was that if one had ever stayed outside the UK for a continuous period of six months or more, one could no longer give blood. As I was born in India and only moved to the UK when I was five years old, I was told that I could not give blood.


(Source)The other week, our local church had a blood drive. My hopes were not high, but I thought that I'd pop along on the rather slim offchance that I might be able to give blood. The regulations here said that if one has visited the UK for longer than three months between 1980 and 1996 one cannot give blood (because of a risk of vCJD).

Ah well, at least I tried. I can now not bother to give blood and not have to feel bad about it either. Let's just hope that my brain is not turning spongiform even as I am writing this.

Here's some links about donating blood in both countries:
UK's National Blood Service
America's Blood Centers