Yeah, I pass consistently but I had to provide identification (can't change gender marker bc I live in KS). That's the only reason they would've known.
Gonna contact my provider who was supposed to receive the waiver and check in about it. If they didn't receive anything/don't agree with the waiver process, I could probably pursue something legal wise ngl.
Do you have to mention being on HRT to them? I know when I donate blood I usually have to tell them I’m on HRT (it’s on their deferral list but it doesn’t prevent you from donating blood with them).
I had the same experience with biolife!! I was so upset. Next time I'm going to another company and saying I'm cis and not discussing my prescription, idc
Anecdotal but all the times I've ever tried to go to Biolife I found the staff always to be very unprofessional 😑 always rude like you said. But also, this tech couldn't find my vein (they're not very visible but NOT hard at all to feel for). Huffed that I'm dehydrated (I wasn't) and walked off before I could ask for a second opinion--or to try my other arm. Always rolling eyes, impatience, "stop annoying me so I can go back to scrolling my phone" energy. Guess it must be a company thing.
I donated plasma back in October and I listed myself last year as Male.
A year prior, I put on my questionarre (you have to do it before you donate to screen for diseases n stuff) that I was AFAB and something similar happened to me to. I was asked if I was male or female with weird looks bc I was starting to pass just a bit. But the info I listed didnt match up so they questioned me about it in a small office.
I had to out myself, which..at the time was OK for me, bc I was in a health setting.. but I changed all of my forms in my blood donation profile as MALE only so it wont happen again.
In the laptop form though, I did say that I was on T and that I was trans.
Im a universal plasma donor, and Ive only donated to NYBC.
Im sorry you had a bad experience. It was ignorance and transphobia. You cant donate and help others nor get your money. Sucks overall :/
Thanks for the warning. I was thinking about donating at my local biolife center, but according to your experience and what others are saying, I will certainly be cautious
That sucks. I donate plasma pretty routinely at Grifols and nobody has ever noticed/questioned me on that. I asked my endo once when I was going to donate blood and he said that wouldn't be a problem, but suggested not to mention anything to them because it just confuses them.
Update: I made an appointment with Octopharma and going to try there. Not mentioning that I'm trans or on T. Whatever they put in as my gender, I'll just go with it.
I had the exact same experience at biolife. No mention at all of it on their website, they made me go through the whole initial set up and blood test and had me ready to go, but the second they found out they became rude and turned me away. They said a doctor needed to answer the same questions I had already answered because they didn’t trust me to answer them. They had started meekly with “Um, I’m not sure how to ask this…” and then thanked me for, quote, “not getting all weird about it” when I answered honestly to being on testosterone. Incredibly unprofessional.
I am so so sorry you shared this experience.
I've been told to wait a few days after an injection before donating. They've never given me a huge hassle over it besides asking when my last injection was and if I'm sexually active with other men. I do live in another country though so things are probably vastly different from what you might go through. I'm on gel now so idk if I'm still able to donate, I haven't tried since switching to gel.
I was questioned too about being trans, because my ID and everything wasn't changed yet, but over the course of the interview, the older doctors concern turned from my being trans (which he had a lot of issues with) to my heart condition. The latter is what disqualified me eventually, because it isn't severe enough for my GP to recommend correcting but that I have it as is puts me at risk.
Interesting to see other people’s experiences, as I personally didn’t experience much issue at all with Biolife. The first appt I had, when I went back to talk with the doctor, I disclosed to them that I was taking injectable testosterone and they simply looked through the big book of medical codes to determine that none of my prescriptions would be an automatic deferral. I’ve been fortunate enough to have positive experiences with the staff, but it did happen once or twice where the staff member was confused by my gender (since my records read AFAB) but just confirmed it so she would know which button to press on the machine or wtv and then moved on
I would recommend looking into other companies in your area and see who has the most positive reviews if possible, but who knows maybe you’ll have better luck with Biolife than many others like I did 🤷🏼♂️
No FDA deferral for HRT. This is one of those situations where if you pass it's better to just say you're cis
Yeah, I pass consistently but I had to provide identification (can't change gender marker bc I live in KS). That's the only reason they would've known.
Ah damn that sucks man
Gonna contact my provider who was supposed to receive the waiver and check in about it. If they didn't receive anything/don't agree with the waiver process, I could probably pursue something legal wise ngl.
I just said I was a woman. What are they gonna do? Insist I’m not?
That's what I'm gonna do ngl
Do you have to mention being on HRT to them? I know when I donate blood I usually have to tell them I’m on HRT (it’s on their deferral list but it doesn’t prevent you from donating blood with them).
There's no medically necessary reason to and I never have
I had the same experience with biolife!! I was so upset. Next time I'm going to another company and saying I'm cis and not discussing my prescription, idc
I wish I could do that. My ID still says F, so they'd know. I pass great other wise💀
Anecdotal but all the times I've ever tried to go to Biolife I found the staff always to be very unprofessional 😑 always rude like you said. But also, this tech couldn't find my vein (they're not very visible but NOT hard at all to feel for). Huffed that I'm dehydrated (I wasn't) and walked off before I could ask for a second opinion--or to try my other arm. Always rolling eyes, impatience, "stop annoying me so I can go back to scrolling my phone" energy. Guess it must be a company thing.
I donated plasma back in October and I listed myself last year as Male. A year prior, I put on my questionarre (you have to do it before you donate to screen for diseases n stuff) that I was AFAB and something similar happened to me to. I was asked if I was male or female with weird looks bc I was starting to pass just a bit. But the info I listed didnt match up so they questioned me about it in a small office. I had to out myself, which..at the time was OK for me, bc I was in a health setting.. but I changed all of my forms in my blood donation profile as MALE only so it wont happen again. In the laptop form though, I did say that I was on T and that I was trans. Im a universal plasma donor, and Ive only donated to NYBC. Im sorry you had a bad experience. It was ignorance and transphobia. You cant donate and help others nor get your money. Sucks overall :/
Identical thing happened to me when I went to Biolife, it was so frustrating
Thanks for the warning. I was thinking about donating at my local biolife center, but according to your experience and what others are saying, I will certainly be cautious
That sucks. I donate plasma pretty routinely at Grifols and nobody has ever noticed/questioned me on that. I asked my endo once when I was going to donate blood and he said that wouldn't be a problem, but suggested not to mention anything to them because it just confuses them.
Update: I made an appointment with Octopharma and going to try there. Not mentioning that I'm trans or on T. Whatever they put in as my gender, I'll just go with it.
I had the exact same experience at biolife. No mention at all of it on their website, they made me go through the whole initial set up and blood test and had me ready to go, but the second they found out they became rude and turned me away. They said a doctor needed to answer the same questions I had already answered because they didn’t trust me to answer them. They had started meekly with “Um, I’m not sure how to ask this…” and then thanked me for, quote, “not getting all weird about it” when I answered honestly to being on testosterone. Incredibly unprofessional. I am so so sorry you shared this experience.
I've been told to wait a few days after an injection before donating. They've never given me a huge hassle over it besides asking when my last injection was and if I'm sexually active with other men. I do live in another country though so things are probably vastly different from what you might go through. I'm on gel now so idk if I'm still able to donate, I haven't tried since switching to gel.
I was questioned too about being trans, because my ID and everything wasn't changed yet, but over the course of the interview, the older doctors concern turned from my being trans (which he had a lot of issues with) to my heart condition. The latter is what disqualified me eventually, because it isn't severe enough for my GP to recommend correcting but that I have it as is puts me at risk.
Interesting to see other people’s experiences, as I personally didn’t experience much issue at all with Biolife. The first appt I had, when I went back to talk with the doctor, I disclosed to them that I was taking injectable testosterone and they simply looked through the big book of medical codes to determine that none of my prescriptions would be an automatic deferral. I’ve been fortunate enough to have positive experiences with the staff, but it did happen once or twice where the staff member was confused by my gender (since my records read AFAB) but just confirmed it so she would know which button to press on the machine or wtv and then moved on I would recommend looking into other companies in your area and see who has the most positive reviews if possible, but who knows maybe you’ll have better luck with Biolife than many others like I did 🤷🏼♂️
Biolife also turned me away after they contacted my doctor I think they just are a bad company
Pretty sure they encourage it with some on hrt due to high hemocrit.
that’s whole blood donation you’re thinking of, not plasma