A long-running partnership between Taglit-Birthright Israel and the Gift of Life bone marrow registry has reached a major milestone, with more than 600 patients worldwide receiving life-saving stem cell transplants from donors recruited through the Birthright program.
Gift of Life is a US-based nonprofit organization that has been operating for more than 34 years to identify, register and support bone marrow and stem cell donors. Founded in 1991, the organization connects patients with donor registries around the world using advanced genetic matching. Since it began operating, Gift of Life has helped facilitate more than 6,200 transplants globally.
Stem cell transplants are used today to treat more than 75 diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and inherited immune system disorders. A formal partnership between Gift of Life and Taglit-Birthright Israel has been in place since 2004, giving Birthright participants visiting Israel the opportunity to join the donor registry through a simple cheek swab. Organization representatives visit Birthright groups, explain life-threatening blood diseases and invite young adults to register as potential future donors.
Matching a donor to a patient is based on inherited genetic markers, making it more likely to find a suitable match within similar ethnic backgrounds. "Because HLA markers are inherited within families and passed down through generations, there is a higher likelihood of finding a match with someone from a similar ethnic background," the organization said. In the case of Birthright Israel, this means program alumni may have a higher chance of matching Jewish patients in need of transplants.
One of those donors is Kyle Kane, a Birthright alumnus who joined the registry during his participation in the program about six years ago. "On Birthright they told us about the option of becoming bone marrow or stem cell donors and explained that all it takes is a simple saliva test. I thought it was a good thing to do, and that if they ever contacted me, I'd decide then," he said. Six years later, Kane received a call from Gift of Life asking if he was still willing to donate.
"They took care of everything and explained exactly what was going to happen. I received injections for a few days and then flew to a collection center in Florida. After a few hours, it was over," he said. Three days after the donation, Kane was informed that the initial procedure had been successful and that a 19-year-old leukemia patient was responding positively to the transplant. Kane said his decision to donate was also shaped by a personal experience: his mother received a kidney transplant in 2019. "Seeing what a donation does for someone you love makes you understand how important it is," he said. "In the end, it was a very simple process, with minimal effort to save someone's life."
According to updated data, Birthright alumni recruited to the Gift of Life registry have so far provided more than 600 donations that led to successful transplants and saved lives. Collection procedures take place in the US, while patients can be located in nearly any country around the world.
Taglit-Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark said: "Six hundred transplants are a tangible expression of the mutual responsibility that drives Birthright Israel. Program alumni choose to take responsibility, act for others and save lives. The partnership with Gift of Life shows how a connection to Jewish identity can translate into real human impact."
Gift of Life founder and CEO Jay Feinberg, himself a leukemia survivor and transplant recipient, said the partnership began with a conversation between him and Birthright Israel founder Charles Bronfman. "We felt that program participants should have an opportunity to give something back for the free trip to Israel. They are generous far beyond anything we expected. Time and again, we are amazed by the willingness of these young people to save the lives of people they have never met."
