# What's your blood type? Do you even know? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314 "2005-04-20T21:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/21 "2005-04-20T21:55:27Z")
Type A+, and I used to donate regularly, until damn iron-deficiency problems got in the way. ☹ A-type is found in heavy concentrations throughout Europe, which is the origin of most of my ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/22 "2005-04-20T21:56:45Z")
> [@SallyBowls](#): > > B+ here. I tested it myself as part of a lab project in college. Apparently they used to do that in HS over here but had to stop due to bloodbourne disease issues. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/23 "2005-04-20T21:59:22Z")
You can’t donate blood if you’ve been to the UK!? Is that residual from the BSE panic or something else I haven’t thought of? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/24 "2005-04-20T21:59:28Z")
I am a negative. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/25 "2005-04-20T22:00:39Z")
AB neg, if I dig out my paperwork I could even give you my phenotyping if I needed to. Dad is the same. We used to get frantic calls in the middle of the night now and then back in the 70s. I can remember getting tapped for a _lot_, getting an expander and a night in a bed, but the kid lived. My dad was in the bed next to me. I am so very glad that the whole blood storage, expander stuff has gotten more advanced from the 70s. Now if they could just come up with a good short term synthetic blood. I am also registered in the marrow donor database. Just doing my part, I had enough emergency surgery in my life to be grateful. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/26 "2005-04-20T22:02:10Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I am a negative. Oh now **Shibb** I’ve always thought of you as an upbeat kinda guy. 😃 Blood Type: B+ ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/27 "2005-04-20T22:04:32Z")
A+ for me B- for my wife So as a result (I know I’m oversimplifying): A- for my daughter So much for being able to donate blood for each other in a crisis. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/28 "2005-04-20T22:06:23Z")
B- My mom is, too, which was good because when I was born, they were extremely worried that my mom would have developed antibodies that would fight against an Rh positive fetus. They have medication to prevent that now, which I had to take after my miscarriages and after the delivery of my healthy baby. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/29 "2005-04-20T22:13:29Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > Oh now **Shibb** I’ve always thought of you as an upbeat kinda guy. 😃 > > Blood Type: B+ Sure, I’m a negative, but it’s okay, you be positive. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/30 "2005-04-20T22:17:40Z")
A+. I’m an overachiever. My mom is AB+. My dad… isn’t. I typed my own blood in junior high. Actually, many girls typed my blood because they were too skittish to have their fingers pricked and the teacher asked me if I’d do it, because I was the least likely to faint. Why he didn’t pick a football player, I’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/31 "2005-04-20T22:20:15Z")
O positive. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/32 "2005-04-20T22:22:39Z")
It’s all well and good to prick you finger when you’re in school but you should wait until you get home to … never mind. **Antigen** , that’s what i meant about “parts.” I would donate plasma, but the centers always seem to be next to a liquor store and, well. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/33 "2005-04-20T22:29:13Z")
I’m O negative. I understand that that’s a very useful blood type to have for some reason (universal donor? acceptor? it’s rare? something?), so the Red Cross should love me. But unfortunately I’ve got that whole selfish, indulgent, sinful mental illness so I need not apply. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/34 "2005-04-20T22:41:03Z")
Mine is A negative. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/35 "2005-04-20T22:42:01Z")
B pos. No idea about Rh and the rest, though. I’ve been donating blood since I was in university, with some breaks due to low iron content. Recently started taking women’s vitamins, which worked like a charm last time I donated – the blob went straight to the bottom, no maybes about it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/36 "2005-04-20T22:52:36Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > You can’t donate blood if you’ve been to the UK!? Is that residual from the BSE panic or something else I haven’t thought of? It’s the BSE panic. You have to not spend more than 6 months (I think) total in the UK. If you’ve visited recently they’ll ask you if you were on any farmland or if you walked in the dirt (not kidding, I went to England and Wales last year and I’m a regular donor). I’ve been to England a couple of times but not yet long enough to disqualify me from donating. O+ or maybe a 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/37 "2005-04-20T22:57:01Z")
O+. I should probably donate a few times before I go into the Peace Corps in a few months. That’ll probably end up disqualifying me for at least awhile. (Not to mention my many innoculations have now cured me of any phobias I might have had about needles.) ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/38 "2005-04-20T23:11:02Z")
O+ What does the RH mean? My Blood Donor card says O RH Positive. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/39 "2005-04-20T23:41:36Z")
Rh is the Rhesus factor. It’s a thing that blood has (or doesn’t), independent of the ABO designation. Basically, if a - recipient gets blood from a + donor, the recipient will develop antibodies against that blood, and bad things will happen. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314/40 "2005-04-20T23:42:35Z")
> [@Stainz](#): > > O+ > > What does the RH mean? The RH comes from Rhesus monkeys. Take my word for it: they taste nothing like Reeses peanut butter cups, so it’s best you not even try and bite one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type-do-you-even-know/300314.md?page=3)