Patient meeting

A unique experience: meeting in person

For many, this first meeting is a unique, unforgettable and very emotional experience.

In the course of our almost 30 years of work, we have received a lot of positive feedback from donors and patients who have met in person. Of course, in the run-up to the first meeting, there is often nervousness on both sides. Questions arise such as "What should I say?", "What if we have nothing to say to each other and remain silent?" or "How should I approach the other person?" Most of the time, however, all these questions dissolve as soon as patients and donors meet.

After the anonymity period of usually two years, it is possible in some countries for the recipient and donor to meet in person. In other countries, however, special regulations apply - and in some places it is unfortunately not allowed for the patient and donor to meet at all. If you'd like to know more, or if you have any questions, please send an email to bmt@dkms-africa.org or alternatively, give us a call on 0800 12 10 82. Lines are open Monday – Friday, 08:30 to 16:30.

The decision whether you'd like to meet in person should be made consciously and carefully by you and the recipient of your stem cells. We recommend that you contact each other anonymously beforehand. This helps to find out how the other person feels, and whether you would like to get to know each other.

If you, as a DKMS donor, decide to make personal contact, please contact us directly with this wish. We will then send you the necessary forms. The recipient of your stem cells will receive the forms from the responsible transplant clinic.

Whatever decision you make: We will support and accompany you on your way. You can turn to us at any time with your joy and sadness, your hope and your doubts.

You would like to share your experience as a stem cell donor with others - for example on Facebook, Instagram or in the press? We are very happy about that - because maybe you can motivate other people to become stem cell donors and thus potential life savers. For data protection reasons, however, it is very important that you avoid giving certain information about the donation and references to patients. This is the only way we can protect the privacy of patients and DKMS donors together! You can find more information on this in our brochure "Contact between donor and patient". In order to support you in dealing with the media, we have also created a social media guide for DKMS donors. It contains helpful tips and rules that are important for reporting on your stem cell donation. You are also welcome to contact us directly and we can discuss together how we can support you in publishing your donation experience. We look forward to hearing from you and your personal story! You can reach us by phone at 0800 12 10 82 or by email at donor2patient@dkms.de.