Donor Weight Guidelines

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has guidelines for a maximum weight for potential donors joining the NMDP Registry. These guidelines have been established to help ensure donor safety.

The donor weight guidelines state that for donors joining the Registry, the maximum acceptable weight would be a person's weight associated with a body mass index (BMI) of 40*. To see the maximum weight (in pounds) for a given height (in feet and inches) see the chart below.

*BMI is calculated as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters.
BMI = wt (kg.) / [ht (m)]2 (1 inch = 0.0254m, 1 pound = 0.454 kg.)