Take a look at this article about my buddy Diem. Faced with aplastic anemia, a potentially life threatening illness and needing a bone marrow transplant, she found that there were no matches for her in the donor registry. None. Zero. Diem is Vietnamese American and faced what many Asian, Hispanic, Black and African Amerian and other minority groups are faced with regularly.

There are simply not enough (or in some cases, any) people from minority groups registering to be donors. The National Marrow Donor Program states that there is an urgent need for more minorities to register to be a bone marrow or cord blood donor. People who are in need of transplants have a greater likelihood of matching a donor of the same race, but when there are not enough donors from that racial group, the chance of finding a donor match dwindles. In Diem’s case it dwindled to nothing.

Luckily, Diem is healthy now and doing fine. Her doctors realized that they had no other options and were able to treat her with a stem cell transplant using cord blood cells. She’s now enjoying life with her husband and is a valued reader of adoptionblogs :)

I wanted to draw attention to this matter for a very selfish reason: my baby girl. Should she need a bone marrow transplant one day, I will likely be unable to help her. We need to get the word out and let people know that becoming a donor can and will save lives. There are multiple ways to register as a bone marrow donor; they can be found here as well as by following the links in the paragraph below.

There are several organizations that exist solely to spread the word to the Asian community to become bone marrow donors. There are two that I was very impressed with, and their websites contain a great deal of information. Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches works with patients needing transplants in the Asian community as well as to recruit new donors and educate the public. The Asian American Donor Program is also tirelessly working to spread awareness and help donors and patients alike.

Please spread the word about the need for minority bone marrow donors. You never know when a life close to you may be affected.

Related Reading:
National Marrow Donor Program
Kailee Wells
Asian Americans and Cancer

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