Blood donor storms out and refuses to return after being asked if he’s pregnant

Veteran blood donor Leslie Sinclair, 66, was so angry he stormed out of the center in Stirling after being told he had to answer a “stupid” question about whether he was pregnant

An angry man left a blood donation center and refused to return after being asked if he was pregnant.

Leslie Sinclair, from Stirling, was asked on a medical form if he was pregnant and says he will not return until the question is cleared.

The 66-year-old has donated 125 liters of blood in almost 50 years but now says he will never do it again unless he’s allowed to skip the ‘stupid’ question.

However, the head of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) explained that all donors are now being asked the same questions to ensure everyone feels included and discrimination is ended.

Mr Sinclair, who has been donating blood since he was 18, says he was angry because he didn’t have to answer the question but staff told him he had to. The Scottish Daily Mail reports.

The question was whether he was expecting a child or had been pregnant in the last six months.

Pregnant women have to wait six months after giving birth before they can donate blood.

The retired driver from Stirling, Scotland, told them it was “stupid” and “got in [his] bike and cycled away” after walking to the center at Albert Halls on Wednesday.

He said: “There’s always a form to fill out and that’s fine – they tend to ask about medical conditions or illnesses – and that’s clearly because the blood has to be safe.

“This time there was a question I hadn’t seen before: ‘Are you pregnant or have you been for the past six months?’ which required a yes or no answer.

“It makes no sense and makes me angry because vulnerable people, including children, are waiting for blood and need urgent help.

“But they were denied my blood because they were bound to answer a question that is impossible to answer.”

He added that his wife, Margaret, 59, was comfortable with his actions.

NHS England is looking to recruit a million more blood donors over the next five years after numbers plummeted during the pandemic.

The SNBTS wants to find 16,000 in the next year.

Professor Marc Turner, Director of SNBTS, said: “We appreciate the support of everyone in our donor community and thank Mr Sinclair for his dedication over many years.

“While pregnancy is only a relevant issue for those whose biological sex or gender assigned at birth is female, gender assigned at birth is not always visually clear to staff.

“As a public body, we recognize the changes in society in how such questions can be asked without discrimination and have a duty to promote inclusion – so all donors are now being asked the same questions.”