# Do you know your blood type? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539 "2018-07-25T03:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sabernode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sabernode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sabernode)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/21 "2018-07-25T07:34:41Z")
I just did a blood type testing last week. I haven’t seen my results yet. How ironic. I still don’t know my blood type. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/22 "2018-07-25T07:42:40Z")
A+ here. You don’t _need_ to know your type - in virtually all cases where you might need it docs will test your type. Situations where there isn’t time to test are rare. The test itself takes only minutes. You can also simply mix some of your blood with whatever is proposed to transfuse, if there’s going to be a problem it will be apparent quite quickly. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/23 "2018-07-25T08:21:05Z")
Yes I do. Boring old O+ which my kids have managed to inherit as well. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/24 "2018-07-25T09:14:52Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Yes I do. Boring old O+ which my kids have managed to inherit as well. Are ANY blood types exciting and new? 🙂 Maybe if someone was ABO+/- ? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/25 "2018-07-25T10:49:41Z")
O+. I used to donate a lot. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/26 "2018-07-25T11:12:32Z")
I am AB but my father’s WWII dog tag showed him as O. :eek: Despite this anomaly there was never any doubt that I was my father’s son, and DNA tests have confirmed this. I can only assume that blood-typing of new recruits became lax during the height of the War. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/27 "2018-07-25T11:28:49Z")
B+ - I’m pretty sure I learned this when I enlisted in the Navy. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/28 "2018-07-25T12:50:10Z")
Yes. I donated blood in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/29 "2018-07-25T13:26:39Z")
It’s really not medically necessary to know one’s blood type. One will get tested dozens of different ways prior to being given any blood products, in order to determine the proper type to give you, should it be needful. Now, it’s nice to know one’s type so that if a call goes out for your particular type at the local blood center, you’ll be more likely to get off your tush and donate. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/30 "2018-07-25T13:34:56Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > it would take doctors too long to do the whole testing thing. Unless they’re doing whole-spectrum typing (very unusual, most likely to happen in solid-organ receptions), it takes seconds. I know mine, since I’m a blood donor. I also know those of all of my relatives on Dad’s side up to second-cousins and of my mother. We’re all As, so it’s just a matter of remembering which ones are the +s (there’s less +s and we’re bunched up). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/31 "2018-07-25T13:41:40Z")
Even though O- can be given to anyone in an emergency, it’s still better to know. You’ll get better results with an actual match, and supplies of O- are limited, so it’s best to save them for the cases where you actually can’t know. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/32 "2018-07-25T13:45:35Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I’m positive mine is B-positive. 🙂 I know mainly because I’m a regular donor of blood and platelets at my local blood center. And it is on my old dog tags. (And so is my social security number, not a good thing) My dog tags spelled my name wrong, for my SSN wrong, and said I was an Episcopalian, but they got my blood type right, A+. The sergeant I spoke to when I applied for new ones said, “Well, if they’re going to get only one thing right, that’s the one you want.” I also know my genotype. I have my father’s dog tags from the Air Force, and he was O+, and I know my mother is A+ from times she had surgery, so I am AO. My mother had surgery in 1987, and was paranoid about getting HIV from a transfusion, not that she was likely to need a transfusion, and anyway, the blood supply was clean by then, it wasn’t 1983, but she made me give a directed donation for her. Why she didn’t give one for herself? She claimed she needed all her blood for the surgery (even though tons of people do directed donations for themselves all the time), and since I was a regular blood donor, it was no big deal for me. Since my mother in fact, did not need the blood, it went into the general pool. I have been a blood donor since the day I was old enough. I went to the Red Cross on my 17th birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/33 "2018-07-25T13:47:54Z")
I have no clue. I’ve had blood drawn for many different reasons, but they never told me my type. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/34 "2018-07-25T13:48:24Z")
I figured out my blood type after having two kids. I believe it was like this: My wife is O- (she’s always been special) Our first kid is O+. (So I’m something O\_ +\_) Second kid is B-. (So I’m BO ± B+ It was verified when I started donating, and yes I do know I need to donate again 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/35 "2018-07-25T13:56:14Z")
Yep, it’s on my blood donation card. I be A+. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/36 "2018-07-25T14:04:17Z")
I know mine (O+) and keep my old blood donor’s card in my wallet in case I’m ever found mauled by a puma. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/37 "2018-07-25T14:33:34Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > I figured out my blood type after having two kids. Well, some tests are faster and more cost effective than others… If I understand these things correctly (and I probably don’t), you were lucky that the second kid was (-), because your wife probably developed some antibodies to (+) during the first pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/38 "2018-07-25T15:08:35Z")
I’m O-, CMV neg. The blood bank loves me. I gave regularly until a cancer diagnosis last year but I look forward to being able to donate again in the future. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/39 "2018-07-25T16:05:30Z")
O-neg. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539/40 "2018-07-25T16:57:41Z")
Boring old A+, like everyone in my family. I believe the majority of Ashkenazi have that type. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-type/818539.md?page=3)