I'm sorry to read about your son’s situation and I can appreciate you want to support and help him as much as possible.
As you probably know your son must have a donor with the closest tissue-type match. This will help to reduce the likelihood of complications and rejection of the transplant. A brother or sister is most likely to be a match. You can read more about who can donate on our webpage.
Anthony Nolan has some useful advice on things to consider before becoming a bone marrow donor. If he does not have a suitable match within his family his doctors will look at the bone marrow registers nationally and internationally to try and find a suitable donor match.
Maybe you could discuss being tested to see if you were a potential candidate with your son’s doctor or specialist nurse.
I hope your son finds a suitable donor soon.
Please get back to us if you need any more information or support. You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline. The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.
Hello and thank you for coming back to us with another question.
While it may be unlikely that cousins will be a close enough match, as Tina has already said, do talk with your son's medical team about this. They will know what to do to find out who needs to be tested to see if they are a match.
