Bone Marrow Transplant

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Bone Marrow Registry

How you or others can help your child

Joining the bone marrow registry is easy:

  • Be between 18-44 years old and in good health
  • Be willing to donate to any patient in need
  • Complete a brief registration form with contact information, health history questions, and consent to have your HLA (human leukocyte antigen) tissue typed
  • Give a swab of cheek cells to determine your HLA typing

Obtain a registration form by contacting the Mississippi Marrow Donor Program at (855) 866-2362 or join the registry online at www.bethematch.org. Please use code R093.

  • Donors ages 18-44 are called on to donate 90 percent of the time.
  • People ages 45-60 may also join online at bethematch.org and will be asked to make a $100 tax-deductible payment.

Once you have joined, your marrow typing is entered into a worldwide registry where each day thousands of patients search for a suitable donor. If you are a potential match, you will be contacted for additional tests. If it is determined that you are the best match for the patient, you may be asked to donate bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells. (The patient's physician will determine which procedure will be requested.) The UMMC bone marrow transplant team of doctors and nurses will perform the procedure, and the product will then be hand-delivered to the appropriate transplant center.

Many Mississippians have donated this special gift that has given patients throughout the world a second chance at life. Our state's residents have also been recipients of this same gift. Tissue types are inherited, so patients are most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity. The registry needs people of every background, especially those from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

The Mississippi Marrow Donor Program has been tasked with increasing the number of donors in its database. Please take the first step. Join the bone marrow registry. For more information about becoming a donor, call the Mississippi Marrow Donor Program at (855) 866-2362 or visit bethematch.org.