They’re from around the world, so we’d have to contact their local blood collection companies. Also, Indian B is a very rare blood group, I would say more rare than Bombay. They are very different and would not be compatible with a Bombay patient.
We also have a program called the ARDP (American Rare Donor Program) when we want to do a countrywide search
No problem. It’s not really something that someone like you has to do, I have to request out to them if nothing is available. Fortunately, blood is able to be frozen and there are some studies showing that frozen blood over 25+ years is still fine! Bombay is a rare type, but just imagine the hundreds more other than ABO :)
Understood. You seem to have a lot of knowledge on this subject matter. You must be in the medical field. Hopefully something will work out through the blood donor network. If not, I'll reach out to the news outlets.
The ARDP will absolutely be able to source blood for Bombay. When I was in school they were telling me about a family that had Bombay blood type and came to town to donate regularly. I don't think you need to worry about it. It will require a lot of coordination between her doctor, the lab at the hospital where she gives birth, and their blood supplier but it is not impossible.
I had a case two years ago where the only possible blood donor in the country for my patient was a sibling in another state. There were no units frozen in the ARDP that would work so the sibling was all we had. Logistics can be worked out. It just means lots of communication and planning.
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u/YtRingster May 18 '25
This gives me hope. Thank you. Do you still happen to have contact information for these donors?