Donating Blood in Canada with TD1

I tried to donate blood with Canada Blood Services in Ontario and was told that they will not accept blood from a person withTD1 regardless of your health, BG controls or what type of insulin you take or have taken. I understand that the American Red Cross will accept blood donations from TD1’s as long as you qualify with their health questions.

Has anyone in Canada been successful in donating blood or is this across the country.

You can donate in the States as long as you never took cattle insulin in Europe during the eighties (and can pass the other eligibility screening parameters).

I have no idea what that is all about in Canada.

Canadian Blood Services is a pan-Canadian organization, so the rules will be the same in all provinces and territories (including for its partner Héma-Québec).

The rationale for the exclusion – sorry, “deferral” to use their word – is not transparent. It’s also not entirely logical, when they accept blood from many Type 2s who take insulin.

You couldn’t always donate in the US if you were diabetic, for the longest after I was diagnosed T2 I could not donate. I don’t know what they based this refusal on, I suspect it was believed that it would be harmful to the donor. This is a silly misconception but one that still exist.

I was told the same about not donating with diabetes, but it was many years ago. I don’t want to donate blood. Who knows if it could be bad for someone else. And with all the drugs I take, I just don’t want to donate…