Yes. There are rules that affect whether you can donate blood, plasma or platelets, but sexual activity shouldn’t stop you from donating completely.
The good news: you can donate plasma right away.
But, there are a few reasons you would need to wait to donate blood or platelets.
You’ll need to wait if you’ve had sex (excluding oral sex) in the last 6 months with someone new or with more than one person, and you’ve had anal sex in the last 3 months.
You’ll also need to wait if you’ve had sex in the last 3 months with someone who has ever injected drugs not prescribed by a doctor or dentist.
You’ll need to wait at least 3 months to donate blood, plasma or platelets if you’ve had sex with someone who was found to have HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C or human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) infection.
Using condoms doesn’t change your eligibility.
What questions will you ask about my sexual history?
We ask all donors the same two questions:
- Whether you’ve had sex with someone new in the last 6 months, and
- Whether you’ve had sex with more than one person in the last 6 months.
Both questions exclude oral sex.
If you answer no to both, you won’t be asked anything else and we’ll move on to the rest of the questionnaire.
If you answer yes to either question, we’ll ask if you’ve had anal sex in the last 3 months.
If it’s a no to that, we’ll keep going through the questionnaire. If it’s a yes, you’ll have to wait 6 months to donate blood, but can still donate plasma.
I’ve had a new sexual partner in the last 6 months. Can I donate?
Yes, but what you donate depends.
If you’ve had anal sex in the last 3 months, with or without condoms, you can donate plasma right away. But you’ll need to wait to donate blood or platelets.
Otherwise, you can donate whatever suits you best.
I have multiple partners. What can I donate?
It depends.
If you’ve had anal sex in the last 3 months with at least one partner, with or without condoms, you can donate plasma right away. But you’ll need to wait to donate blood or platelets.
Otherwise, you can donate whatever suits you best.
My partner and I always use condoms. Does that affect what I can donate?
No. If you’re affected by the sexual activity rules, using condoms doesn’t change anything.
You might be affected if you have a new partner or multiple partners and have had anal sex in the last 3 months. Then, you’ll just need to wait before you can give blood or platelets, but you can give plasma straight away.
I’ve heard that undetectable means untransmissible. Why can’t HIV+ people donate if their viral load is undetectable?
“Undetectable equals untransmissible” (U=U) only applies to sexual transmission and not transmission caused by blood transfusion.
A blood transfusion is a large amount of blood compared to other exposures. The amount given means there may be enough of the virus to transmit to the patient, even if the donor’s viral load is undetectable.
All donations including plasma for fractionation are required to have HIV antibody testing in addition to testing for the virus, and we have to discard any donation that tests positive to our antibody test for HIV.
Don't be disappointed though, because there are other ways you can help. You can spread the word about how donating saves lives on social media (find us @lifebloodau), register your intent to be an organ donor (if you’re 16 or over), or support the great humanitarian work of the Australian Red Cross.