As an FYI, the expected benefit here is largely dependent on your ethnicity, and to a lesser extent, age:
1. White Americans/Europeans have very strong chances of finding a match (or many matches), so registering with that background means that you’re likely less unique to the existing donor pool. Replaceability can often be high with this sort of background.
2. Those with other ethnic backgrounds can have much more difficulty finding matches. The less common your background (e.g., if you are mixed race, or from a less common background as found in the US, UK, and Germany (the countries which have the most donors)), the more likely it is that you’ll be providing a donor where there is not otherwise a good candidate to be found, and thus actually sort of ‘saving a life’.
3. Males under the age of 26 are typically considered the best donors, so you should more strongly consider this if you’re a young, and/or male (although certainly many donors are used that don’t match that criteria). If you’re over 65, have a blood disorder, have received radiation, etc. you’ll likely be told you’re ineligible to donate to non-relatives.
As an FYI, the expected benefit here is largely dependent on your ethnicity, and to a lesser extent, age:
1. White Americans/Europeans have very strong chances of finding a match (or many matches), so registering with that background means that you’re likely less unique to the existing donor pool. Replaceability can often be high with this sort of background.
2. Those with other ethnic backgrounds can have much more difficulty finding matches. The less common your background (e.g., if you are mixed race, or from a less common background as found in the US, UK, and Germany (the countries which have the most donors)), the more likely it is that you’ll be providing a donor where there is not otherwise a good candidate to be found, and thus actually sort of ‘saving a life’.
3. Males under the age of 26 are typically considered the best donors, so you should more strongly consider this if you’re a young, and/or male (although certainly many donors are used that don’t match that criteria). If you’re over 65, have a blood disorder, have received radiation, etc. you’ll likely be told you’re ineligible to donate to non-relatives.