Battle over direct blood donations leaves parents upset

There’s a battle over blood donations in North Texas and whether patients can choose their own donor.

Direct blood donations have been around since the 1980s, in part, to help ease worries over the safety of blood supplies during the AIDS epidemic.

One of DFW’s major blood banks unexpectedly changed its direct donor policy in April, leaving some families very upset.

Although Tanya Lair’s daughters, 9 and 11, appear to be normal, healthy, beautiful girls, Lair says she’s noticed a marked difference since April.

“One of my daughters, you can see her lips are white. If she had good blood, she’d have bright red lips like I do. Like you do,” said the Farmersville mother. “She literally sleeps all the time.”

The girls were born in China with a rare blood disorder called Beta thalassemia major. “What this means is they are missing the gene that makes hemoglobin, so they literally cannot produce red blood cells. This will make them dependent on blood transfusions every month for the rest of their lives,” she said. “It can’t just be O-positive. It has to be negative for A, C, D, E, all those things.”

Lair said when the girls came home to North Texas, they were initially given transfusions from the general blood bank inventory, but they did not appear to thrive.

Doctors advised the family to find direct donors who could be carefully screened and allowed to donate blood that would be set aside for each girl.

The Lairs managed to compile a list of 30 donors, through an online petition and through friends and family.

Every month, one of their contacts would roll up their sleeve and give blood through Carter BloodCare.

Such blood units are kept separate from the center’s general inventory.

“For 10 years we had no issues,” said Lair. “Our daughters have done phenomenal. They’re growing they’re thriving, they play sports, gymnastics. Then, without any reason whatsoever back in April, Carter BloodCare calls me and says: Hey, we’re sorry. We’re doing away with the direct donor program. No explanation as to why.

The blood bank, like others, has supported direct donor programs in North Texas since the 1980s when the AIDs epidemic left some concerned over the safety of blood donations.

A message on the blood bank’s website simply stated, "effective April 14, 2023, Carter BloodCare is no longer accepting requests for directed donations."

There were initially no other details provided.

The blood bank has now included a lengthy explanation after "social media" discussions began circulating.

Lair says she is concerned her daughters’ are now receiving “weeks-old blood” supplies nearing their expiration dates or blood that has not been properly vetted to match her daughters’ needs.

Carter BloodCare agreed to an interview with NBC 5 to address the decision.

“Throughout the years we look at what is required, as far as resources to continue programs or whether or not a program needs to continue anymore,” said Veronica Moore, VP of marketing and operations support for Carter BloodCare. “The blood supply is safe now with the screening and the testing, those advancements that have happened over the years the blood supply is safe and so that’s one of the reasons we looked at that program to say, this is probably not something we need to have in that capacity.”

Moore said Carter BloodCare always looks at operational efficiencies “and we had noticed an increase in some of these [direct donor] requests and so we just looked at what do we need to do to continue to support a program such as this, or is there a need to continue to support it?”

Moore stressed the decision was not made over a lack of money or personnel.

“There’s not really any medical reason to continue the program at that same level,” she said.

They are, however, allowing patients with rare blood types or those with no other matches to request a direct donor supply.

“Yes, we honor that request from a physician that is taking care of that patient or patients and we do our best to fill that,” said Moore.

The Lairs say that has not been their case at all, despite repeated calls pleading to be allowed to use direct donors.

They worry their daughters will suffer long-term medical problems after having to rely on Carter BloodCare.

The blood bank contends patients can seek out a different bank for their needs, but the family says they have no other option as their children’s hospital works directly with Carter BloodCare.

They’ve considered whether to seek this medical care in another state, but Lair says she would have to start a new list of donors from scratch.

“As a parent, you will do literally anything to help your girls,” she said. “I just want to give my girls the absolute best quality of care that I can provide for them and I don’t understand why they would take this away.”