Donneurs de sens – Season 1, episode 8

Blood donation: An increasingly inclusive and safe experience

The gender-neutral eligibility questionnaire in the donor selection process may look simple enough, but it took years to become a reality. Now, it is more inclusive toward members of the LGBTQ2+ community who wish to donate blood, plasma or platelets.

How does it work? It’s easy! Since December 2022, everyone who wants to donate blood answer the same eligibility questionnaire. This means that men will be asked if they have ever been pregnant, and women will have to answer some questions that were originally intended for men.

In other words, the new questionnaire screens donors based on behaviour, rather than identity. It’s also more inclusive toward non binary and trans people.

In this eighth episode of Héma-Québec’s Donneurs de sens podcast, Dr. Christian Renaud and Dr. Francis Demontigny join host Chu Anh Pham to talk about this major change, which took place in the fall of 2022.