# I don't know my own blood type. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569 "2006-05-12T20:54:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/1 "2006-05-12T20:54:11Z")
I find this enormously depressing. I was reading a MySpace survey that a friend had filled out, and one of the questions asked what your blood type was. I feel very stupid for not knowing, because I imagine there is the potential for a situation to come up where I’d actually need to know. I plan to rectify the situation, but I just felt a need to share my newly realized shortcoming. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/2 "2006-05-12T20:55:52Z")
It’s OK. I don’t know my blood type either. Let’s form a support group. We can hold hands. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/3 "2006-05-12T21:02:21Z")
I don’t know mine, either. I’ve been wanting to give blood, though, despite my mild fear of needles, can they tell you there? I’ve always wanted to know. My mother might know. I asked her once, but she couldn’t remember, said she’d look it up, and… probably hasn’t and won’t. If she does know at all. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/4 "2006-05-12T21:03:54Z")
I don’t know mine. I recently even had bloodwork done, and I asked my doctor, and he said “You know what? It’s _not on here_.” So much for being proactive. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/5 "2006-05-12T21:04:50Z")
Count me in. I’m either “A” or “O” – I’ve even remembered several times when giving blood to ask that the Red Cross notify me of the typing results, but they never have. Which makes me think I’m “A”, 'cause they’d probably be calling me to donate more were I an “O”. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/6 "2006-05-12T21:05:16Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > I don’t know mine, either. I’ve been wanting to give blood, though, despite my mild fear of needles, can they tell you there? If you’re going through the Red Cross, they’ll send you a donor card after the fact that has your blood type on it. Or if you’re more eager to find out, you can look around for home blood type testing kits–a quick Google search indicates that there are plenty out there, and they’re fairly inexpensive. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/7 "2006-05-12T21:05:46Z")
As long as all of you stay close to me, you will be just fine. I am an O negative, a universal donor. You could ask your doctor. It is probably in your medical records. They will tell you if you give blood as well. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/8 "2006-05-12T21:08:27Z")
Better not to know, than to think you know and be wrong. My mother had always told me I had type O blood. A pre-surgery screening in my early twenties revealed that I am actually A (positive). Seems dear old Mom had gotten the idea that children always have the same blood type as their mothers. She never even mentioned what she thought my Rh factor was. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/9 "2006-05-12T21:08:28Z")
I’m glad to know I’m not alone in this. I just figure if I ever run into a stranger who’s looking for an emergency spleen donor, I’d should know if I’m qualified. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/10 "2006-05-12T21:22:04Z")
Oh by the way, I can’t imagine there really is a situation where you would actually need to know, because as **KayElCee** points out, some people may think they know and are wrong. Hence in an emergency situation where someone’s life depends on knowing their blood type, they would be quite foolish to take your word for it. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/11 "2006-05-13T01:28:03Z")
I don’t know mine, either. It’s just never come up. Along the same lines, I’ve been wearing glasses for more than 40 years and I have no idea what my lens prescription is, or what’s wrong with my eyes by its condition name. Posting this a fourth time…let’s see if it works. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/12 "2006-05-13T01:37:48Z")
It matters not if you don’t know your blood type in an emergency. Regulations require the typing of all specimens coming into a blood bank, even in the case of autologous units. I not only know my own blood type I also know my antigen phenotypes, so nyah. (This is what happens when a blood banker gets bored in the lab one night.) ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/13 "2006-05-13T01:39:34Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > If you’re going through the Red Cross, they’ll send you a donor card after the fact that has your blood type on it. I tried this, actually. Twice. Gave blood to the Red Cross and never heard another word from them. So I still don’t know my type. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/14 "2006-05-13T01:43:30Z")
A positive. We all typed ours back in high school, before all the panic over biohazards and blood and AIDS and all. Irrelevant, really, because as **dwyr** noted, regs say you type everything, even if you know what type it is. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/15 "2006-05-13T01:43:21Z")
I don’t know mine either, and my parents also don’t know what it is. I try not to cut myself shaving. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/16 "2006-05-13T01:49:09Z")
We typed ours in high school too, and I **immediately forgot**. Glad to see I’m not alone in not knowing. GT ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/17 "2006-05-13T01:49:39Z")
I’m O positive and so is Dave. I guess that means the baby probably is, as well. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/18 "2006-05-13T01:57:11Z")
I’m an optimist! B+ ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/19 "2006-05-13T02:01:37Z")
AB+ (universal recipient). I found out by donating at the Red Cross. I found out that everyone in my immediate family (mother, father, me, 2 sisters), all have different blood types. One parent is A+ and one is B+. We have an O-, AB+ and O+ with the children. I hope none of us ever needs an organ. Well, I can need an organ but they can’t have mine. I don’t know my antigen phenotypes but I do know my approximate platelet count - 350,000/microliter. The Red Cross loves when I donate platelets. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569/20 "2006-05-13T02:04:19Z")
I’ve ordered blood tests on thousands of people, just in the last 4 years. I think of all those folks, I ordered blood typing maybe 3 times. And each of those orders occurred along with an order to transfuse them. It’s just not a common lab test for clinical medicine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-my-own-blood-type/356569.md?page=2)