Apparently in the UK now, they ask men if they’re pregnant before donating blood – and if you refuse to answer the outrageous question, they turn you away regardless of how desperate they are for your blood.

That’s what happened to 66-year-old Leslie Sinclair during his last trip to a clinic in Stirling, Scotland. Sinclair told the Daily Mail that he was told to fill out a form that asked if he was expecting a child or had been pregnant in the past six months.

After stating that he was a male, the clinic staff said they could not accept his blood unless he provided an answer to the ridiculous question.

All potential donors are asked the question to “promote inclusiveness”, and because pregnancy is not always visually clear, according to the report.

Marc Turner, director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, defended the pregnancy question.

“We appreciate the support of each and every one of our donor community and thank Mr. Sinclair for his commitment over a long number of years. Whilst pregnancy is only a relevant question to those whose biological sex or sex assigned at birth is female, sex assigned at birth is not always visually clear to staff.“

Not only is it scientifically impossible for Sinclair to get pregnant because he’s a man, but he’s also in his mid-60s rendering it virtually impossible to have a child naturally even if he decided to play along with the clinic’s silly little game of “are you a woman”?

“I am angry because I have been giving blood since I was 18 and have regularly gone along,” the father of two told the Daily Mail. “I’m very happy to do so without any problem. There is always a form to fill in and that’s fine – they tend to ask about medical conditions or diseases – and clearly that’s because the blood needs to be safe,” he added. “This time around, there was a question I hadn’t seen before: ‘Are you pregnant, or have you been in the last six months?’ which required a yes or no answer.”

Sinclair also pointed out to the staff that it was impossible for him to be in that position but was told that he would need to answer, otherwise he couldn’t give blood.

“I told them that was stupid and that if I had to leave, I wouldn’t be back, and that was it, I got on my bike and cycled away,” Sinclair told the clinic.

“It is nonsensical and it makes me angry because there are vulnerable people waiting for blood, including children, and in desperate need of help. But they’ve been denied my blood because of the obligation to answer a question that can’t possibly be answered.”

The altercation took place as NHS England launched a campaign earlier this week to recruit a million more blood donors over the next five years after numbers fell during the pandemic. The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) began a drive earlier this month to find 16,000 new donors in the coming year.

Apparently “inclusiveness” and making sure you don’t offend the wrong person is more important than saving lives now in the United Kingdom.