Has Anyone Met Their Donor?

[GoodDay5150]

So has anyone here met their unrelated donor? One person I read about was amazed at how similar he was to his donor. Was your experience the same? I have not met my donor, but I of course would very much like to meet him. I was only given basic information, male, 27 yrs old at the time, and from the U.S. I have spoken to a person who was donating for a stranger and thanked him for going out of his way to help someone that he had never met.

Mario

[bailie]

I have not met my donor (20 year-old male from Germany). We have to wait two years before making direct contact. I did send a "non-personal" email to him through "Be the Match", but did not hear back.

[sstewart09]

We've been in contact with my husband's donor. She's a young lady from Poland. We haven't met in person, but we have skyped on multiple occasions. It's an amazing feeling to be able to thank the person who saved your husband's life. From our conversations, it's interesting to pick out some of their similarities. Whether by coincidence or DNA, it's pretty cool!

[Ruth Cuadra]

My unrelated donor transplant was in 1998. I met my donor in 2000. You can read the details on my Profile.

Although I don't know her very well, I don't think we have very much in common except for the crucial 12 HLA antigens that we share. I'm often asked if I "inherited" allergies or food likes/disklikes from my donor, but I have not. On the other hand, we both have an intense dislike of peas so maybe we overlap at more than those 12 antigens!

Regards,
Ruth

[bailie]

Ruth, that is interesting. I haven't found much information about what traits, if any, are passed from donor to recipient. Has anyone run across any studies?

[GoodDay5150]

Thank you for all of the replies and stories. I have also heard about inheriting allergies/ and likes and or dislikes from a donor, but I don't know if any have been proven scientifically. In my own case, I think that my hair has changed color slightly and I have some minor sinus issues, and or occasional allergies. It's an odd feeling to have someone else's cells as a part of you. I don't think that it's psychological.

Mario

[evansmom]

We have not only met my son's unrelated donor Bryan but now consider him part of our family. He lives in Nashville and we're up here in Ontario but we get together every summer. He's been up here a few times and we've been down there a few times. He fits our family perfectly as he shares very similar views, emotions and humour.