Texas Bone Marrow Donation & Transplant

A girl and her mother speak to a doctor.

About Eligibility How to Donate How to Register Resources

Every year, 12,000 patients are diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma, or other diseases, like sickle cell. For these patients, a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor may be their best or only hope of a cure. The amazing thing is, that cure could be you.

By signing up to be a member of the Be The Match Registry®, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program®, you’re volunteering to help patients in need who may have no other options. All it takes to join is a simple cheek swab, which you can do from home or at a donor registry drive in your community.

Some of the more than 70 diseases that can be treated or cured with a transplant are:

  • Acute myeloid leukemia
  • Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
  • Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
  • Severe aplastic anemia
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Multiple myeloma

What Is Be The Match®?

Be The Match® is a trusted leader in the field of cellular therapy. Its purpose is to deliver cures for blood cancers. From the moment a patient is diagnosed, Be The Match® is there every step of the way—helping doctors find a donor, delivering life-saving cells to a patient’s bedside, and supporting patients through recovery and survivorship. 

For more than 30 years, Be The Match® has managed the world’s most diverse marrow registry—the only one that’s federally funded and Congressionally authorized. To date, they’ve facilitated more than 108,000 transplants. 

You can be a part of their life-saving mission by registering to be a marrow donor, which is free and easy to do. 

Legislation

In 2021, the 87th Texas Legislature, Regular Session passed House Bill (H.B.) 780. This bill amended Texas Health and Safety Code by adding Chapter 53 to establish a new bone marrow donor recruitment program to educate Texas residents about: 

  1. the need for bone marrow donors, including the particular need for donors from minority populations;
  2. the requirements for registering with the federally authorized bone marrow donor registry as a potential bone marrow donor, including procedures for determining an individual’s tissue type;
  3. the medical procedures an individual must undergo to donate bone marrow or other sources of blood stem cells; and
  4. the availability of information about bone marrow donation in health care facilities, blood banks, and driver’s license offices.

H.B. 780 required the Texas Department of State Health Services to work with a federally authorized bone marrow donor registry established and maintained as required by 42 U.S.C. Section 274k and the registry’s interested contracted network partners to develop written and electronic informational materials. 

This bill took effect September 1, 2021.