Can you donate blood for money?
Blood is essential in many treatments and the demand for it is huge. The only source of blood is the human body itself, being impossible to artificially produce it. Because of this, the worldwide healthcare system rely heavily on blood donors.
Compensation for blood giving is not the norm in civilized countries, with some of them, like Brazil or Australia, making illegal to receive money for donating blood. In the US payment is generally permitted by the law. The single and notable exception is California, where payment for blood is against the law. In every other state blood banks are allowed to pay for blood or blood components.
The vast majority of US donors will not receive any money for their act. However, in some circumstances, when demand is high for rare types of blood it is possible to be paid. You have to check this with the blood banks in your area.
Can you make a lot of money by donating blood? The answer is definitely no! Payment is low and if you are able to find a place where to sell your blood there is still the problem of the long time you have to wait before being in the position to donate blood again.
Blood donation is not a good way of making money, but is a great way to help other people and save lives.
Things are different when it comes to donate other blood components. In this cases blood banks will gladly pay you for your time and effort.
It’s hard to be payed to donate blood, but you can make money by giving plasma
While finding a place to give blood for money will be difficult in most cases, giving your plasma and getting paid is something you can definitely do. Why, because plasma is crucial in many treatments and having the needed supply is always a problem.
What is plasma?
Plasma is the liquid component of the blood and it makes up to about 55% of the blood total volume. It is essential for the body, since it is used to transport all the nourishments necessary to feed the cells of the organism.
Plasma consist mostly of water and only a small amount of other components, like proteins. To put it simple, the blood would not exist without plasma.
How is plasma used for treatment?
Artificial plasma is produced today, but it’s used is very limited. The prime source of plasma for the the most life saving treatments comes from a human donor, and because of this, blood banks are willing to pay for it. They will also try yo make you a regular plasma donor and they often have long term rewarding programs.
Plasma is used in therapies for diseases like hemophilia or rabia and for people with severe burns or shocks.
How do you donate plasma
The donation process is fairly simple and will not put your health in danger. You will sit comfortably in an reclined position with a needle place in your arm. The blood will be collected in a special recipient and plasma will be separated from the red blood cells. The red blood cells are then returned to the body by the same needle.
Watch this short video about the plasma donation procedure:
Who can donate plasma
Any healthy person that meet the conditions for donating blood is entitled to donate plasma as well. The universal donor for plasma is consider to be the AB blood type. This is different from the normal blood donation, where the universal donor is the O type. However, any blood type donor will be welcomed, so don’t worry about this.
How often can I donate plasma
Here things are also different from the normal blood donation. Because plasma will regenerate really quick, in 24 to 48 hours, you will be allowed to give plasma 2 times in 7 days.
How much can I make by donating plasma
The amount of money blood banks will pay for your blood and plasma will vary, with the norm being somewhere between 20$ to 40$ for each donation. Plasma collectors will try to convince you to donate regularly and they have rewarding programs to compensate donors that donate often. If you become a regular plasma donor you can expect to make around $200 to $400 a month.
One important aspect to keep in mind is that most blood banks will not use the plasma that was collected at your first donation until you make a second one. The first time plasma will be used for screening and testing, then kept apart in special recipients. Only after the second time donated plasma passes all the testing your plasma will be used in medical treatments.
Where can I donate plasma for money
Start by checking the offers from blood banks in your area. You may find some interesting ones, since some banks are in great need of this essential blood component.
You can also use dedicated websites, like donatingplasma.org
There are also companies dedicated to plasma donation that have interesting compensation programs:
You can locate one of their centers and make a visit there for more details.
How profitable is to donate blood for money?
You will not find a lot of opportunities to donate blood and get payed. As mentioned before, only in very rare situations blood centers will pay for your blood donation. More than 99% of the blood used in civilised countries comes from volunteers donor.
You can make money by donating plasma, a component of the blood. The eligibility conditions are similar as in the case of blood donation and the process itself is not much different.
If you donate plasma regularly you can make $200-$400 a month. You will also have the joy of knowing that your gesture help save people’s life.
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