Kraft Family Blood Donor Center expands eligibility for donors

Boston – The Kraft Family Blood Donor Center, which provides lifesaving blood products to patients at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, announced today that it has finished implementing a more inclusive blood donation process, in alignment with updated guidelines issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that will allow many gay and bisexual men to donate blood and platelets.

On May 11, 2023, the FDA changed its policy to reflect that deferring prospective blood donors based on sexual orientation is no longer supported by data. The Kraft Family Blood Donor Center announced its strong support of this policy change at that time and has now concluded the technical updates required to welcome many who were previously deemed ineligible to donate.

“This policy change is long overdue in welcoming everyone who wishes to contribute to our collective humanitarian mission,” said Richard Kaufman, MD, medical director of the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center and Transfusion Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “The Kraft Family Blood Donor Center is proud to join the blood donation centers across the country in its commitment to treating all potential blood donors with equity and respect while ensuring a safe, sufficient blood supply for patients in need.”

In alignment with the new donor criteria, The Kraft Family Blood Donor Center will continue to screen eligible donors through an individual risk-based questionnaire, which will be the same for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, sex or gender. Donors can make an appointment to give blood or platelets by calling 617-632-3206 or emailing BloodDonor@partners.org. Walk-ins are welcome at the center at 35 Binney St. in Boston, MA.

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Caption: Steve Gisselbrecht, a research specialist in the genetics division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is pictured donating platelets with technician Don Marks in accordance with the more inclusive blood donation process approved by the FDA and adopted at the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center on Oct. 6. Gisselbrecht, who hadn’t been permitted to donate blood products since high school, said “it hurt every time” he learned of an urgent need for blood but knew he would be disqualified from donating due to his sexual orientation. “Being first to donate [under the updated guidelines at the Kraft Center] wasn’t a goal. I just wanted to donate,” he said. “I would have been donating blood this whole time.”