When a rare blood group is the only match, minutes decide the outcome.
Rare Blood Connect is building a register of donors with the Bombay (hh) phenotype and other rare groups, so hospitals can reach a compatible donor on the first call instead of the fortieth. Your details are never published and never shown to another member.
The Bombay blood group, in brief
Red cells with the Bombay (hh) phenotype carry no A, B or H antigen. Someone who has it can normally only receive blood from another person who has it — ordinary O-negative is not a substitute. In India it affects roughly 1 in 10,000 people.
How it works
Three steps, whichever side you are on.
If you can donate
1. Register
Tell us your blood group, a contact number and roughly where you are.
2. Set your availability
You control whether you are open to being contacted, and can change it any time.
3. Be matched anonymously
If a patient nearby needs your group, a coordinator contacts you. They never see who you are.
If you need blood
1. Register
Give us the patient’s group and how to reach you.
2. Nominate your doctor
We contact your doctor, blood bank or pathologist to confirm the request.
3. The search begins
Coordinators start contacting suitable donors and keep you informed.
Why it matters
Rare blood is not usually missing. It is unfindable.
The blood exists
Somewhere nearby there is often someone who could help. There has simply been no list of who they are.
The search is the bottleneck
Hospitals fall back on phone calls, word of mouth and social media appeals — which sometimes work, and are slow every time.
A register fixes the findable part
It cannot make rare blood less rare. It can turn a search into a phone call.
Privacy and trust
Donors and patients never see each other’s details. There is no public list, and there is not going to be one.
A coordinator in the middle
Every match goes through a coordinator, the only person who sees both sides.
Masked by default
Anyone who needs your contact details has to ask, and that request is recorded against their name.
We are not your doctor
We coordinate. We do not deliver blood, make clinical decisions, or replace your blood bank.
Common questions
Is my information public?
No. There is no public list of donors or patients, and no page exposes a name, contact number, address or medical detail.
How often will I be contacted?
Rarely. Only when a patient nearby needs your specific blood group, and only while you are marked available.
Can I request blood directly?
No — requests are confirmed through your doctor, blood bank or pathologist. That is what lets donors trust every request is genuine.
Get in touch
Questions about the initiative, or want to help? Send us a message. Please keep medical questions for your doctor — we cannot answer those.
In a medical emergency
If you or someone with you needs blood urgently, contact your hospital or blood bank directly, or call your local emergency number. Rare Blood Connect is a volunteer register, not an emergency service: we cannot arrange urgent transfusions, we do not hold or deliver blood, and this site is not monitored around the clock. We coordinate — your doctor and your blood bank treat.