Transplant immunology coordinators online now

HLA Typing & Matchingfind out who in your family can actually donate

HLA typing reads the tissue markers inherited from your parents that the immune system uses to tell self from non-self. Matching these markers between a patient and a possible donor shows how likely a transplanted organ or bone marrow is to be accepted rather than rejected.

Trusted by 1000+ families — results and counselling in your own language

  • Reports read free
  • Answer within 1 hour
  • NGS high-resolution typing
25%
Chance any full sibling is a 10/10 match
72 hrs
High-resolution NGS typing turnaround
11 loci
A, B, C, DRB1, DRB3/4/5, DQA1, DQB1, DPA1, DPB1
1 hr
Cost estimate turnaround
Chat with an HLA Matching Coordinator

What HLA testing actually costs

Choose why you need typing and how many people are being tested. Your exact figure comes back within 1 hour of us seeing the case.

HLA panel builder

Bone marrow transplant

Marrow demands allele-level matching at 10/10 or 12/12. Siblings first, then a registry donor, then a haploidentical parent or child with post-transplant cyclophosphamide.
3

Patient plus every relative you want screened. Typing is charged per person; antibody and crossmatch tests only for the patient.

Indicative total for 4 tests
$2,300 – $3,060
Get my exact written estimate

Every package includes

  • Sample collection at your hotel, home or the partner lab
  • Accredited histocompatibility laboratory processing
  • Written report with allele-level nomenclature explained
  • Free interpretation call with a transplant immunologist
  • Repeat sample free of charge if a sample fails or clots
  • Digital report shared on WhatsApp the day it is released

Your panel, at a glance

  • High-resolution NGS typing (11 loci)48–72 hrs
  • Flow cytometry crossmatchSame day
  • Luminex single-antigen bead DSA48 hrs
  • KIR genotyping5–7 days

Indicative ranges only. Final cost depends on resolution level, number of family members typed, whether a crossmatch is repeated close to surgery and any desensitisation monitoring. We share an itemised estimate before you travel.

Next: tap through five loci and watch your match score change live

Match grade simulator

Two alleles are counted at each of five loci — that is the 10/10 every transplant unit talks about. Tap each locus to set how many of the two alleles match, and see honestly what that donor means.

pick a setting
HLA-AClass I

Presents to killer T cells. A mismatch here raises both rejection and graft-versus-host risk.

HLA-BClass I

The most polymorphic locus in the human genome — over 8,000 alleles. Hardest single locus to match.

HLA-CClass I

Long ignored, now known to drive graft-versus-host disease and to control natural killer cell behaviour.

HLA-DRB1Class II

The single most important locus for graft survival in kidney transplant and for chronic GVHD in marrow.

HLA-DQB1Class II

Travels with DRB1 on the same haplotype. DQ antibodies are the commonest cause of late kidney graft loss.

Educational model only. Real donor selection also weighs allele- versus antigen-level mismatch, mismatch direction (host-versus-graft or graft-versus-host), donor age, sex, CMV status and antibody results.

10/10
alleles matched
10/10 — fully matched donor

The ideal marrow donor. Lowest acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease, best long-term survival, standard conditioning.

Ask about a 10/10 donor

Who in your own family could actually be a donor?

Who in your family could match?

You inherit one HLA haplotype from your mother and one from your father — call them A/B and C/D. Every child gets one from each side, so only four combinations exist. That is why a full sibling has exactly a 25% chance of being your identical twin immunologically, while a parent or child is always a half (haploidentical) match.

AC

Identical to you

25% of siblings

AD

Half match

25% of siblings

BC

Half match

25% of siblings

BD

No shared haplotype

25% of siblings

Sibling match probability

2
Chance at least one sibling is a full match
44%

Even at 44%, the 56% case is not a dead end: a haploidentical parent, child or half-matched sibling with post-transplant cyclophosphamide is now a standard, well-proven transplant.

Type my family

The antibody barrier, made visible

Matching is only half the story. Transfusions, pregnancies and a previous transplant teach your immune system to recognise other people's HLA. cPRA is the single number that says what percentage of donors your antibodies would already reject — and it is the reason a perfectly matched donor can still fail the crossmatch.

What raises cPRA

Every blood or platelet transfusion

Each pregnancy (antibodies against the father's HLA)

A previous transplant, especially a failed graft

Ventricular assist devices and some vaccines, temporarily

20%

Out of 100 random donors, 80 would be immunologically usable and 20 would be blocked by antibody.

Moderately sensitised

A workable donor is usually found within the family. Every candidate must be screened by virtual crossmatch before anyone travels.

Review my antibody report

What does that string of numbers on your lab report even mean?

Decode your HLA report

Reports come back as strings like HLA-A*02:01:01:02L with no explanation. Paste any allele from your report and see exactly what each field means.

HLA-A*02:01:01:02L

Class I locus — presents to killer T cells, dominant in acute rejection and acute GVHD.

02

Field 1Allele group

Broad family, roughly the old serological antigen A2. This is all that low-resolution typing gives you.

01

Field 2Specific protein

The exact protein sequence. Two alleles differing here are a true mismatch and are counted in a 10/10 marrow match.

01

Field 3Synonymous DNA change

A silent coding difference — same protein, different DNA. Immunologically irrelevant for matching.

02

Field 4Non-coding change

A difference in an intron or untranslated region. Not relevant to matching.

L

Expression suffix

Low expression — the protein reaches the surface in reduced amounts.

Only the first two fields decide whether a donor is counted as matched. Everything after that is DNA detail that does not change the protein your immune system sees.

Have my full report read free

From sample to matched donor, step by step

From the first WhatsApp message to post-transplant monitoring at home.

  1. 1

    Tell us who needs typing

    Day 0

    Patient plus every willing family member, with ages and blood groups. Send any old typing report, transfusion history and previous transplant details on WhatsApp — photos of paper reports are fine.

  2. 2

    Free immunologist review

    Within 4 hours

    A transplant immunologist tells you which loci and which resolution you actually need, and which relatives are worth testing first. Nobody pays for a test that cannot change the plan.

  3. 3

    Sample collection

    Day 1

    6 mL EDTA blood per person, or a buccal swab kit couriered to you if travel is not yet possible. Samples are stable for 72 hours in transit at 4–25 °C.

  4. 4

    Typing in the lab

    48–72 hrs

    NGS or SSP-PCR typing, with a parallel Luminex antibody screen for the recipient. Results are checked against family inheritance to confirm the haplotypes make genetic sense.

  5. 5

    Crossmatch and virtual crossmatch

    Day 3–4

    Recipient serum against donor cells by flow cytometry and CDC, plus a paper virtual crossmatch against every candidate donor so impossible pairs are removed before anyone travels.

  6. 6

    Match report explained to you

    Within 1 hour of release

    A call in your language: who matches, how well, what the mismatch means for rejection or GVHD risk, and whether desensitisation is needed. You get the numbers, not a verdict.

  7. 7

    Transplant plan and cost estimate

    Same day

    The chosen donor route is priced end to end, with a hospital invitation letter for the medical visa — usually issued in 2–4 hours — for patient, donor and attendants together.

  8. 8

    Monitoring after transplant

    Month 1 onwards

    Serial DSA for organ recipients and STR chimerism for marrow recipients, reviewed remotely by the same team, so a problem is caught while it is still reversible.

What a match grade actually buys you

These are typical figures from high-volume transplant programmes. Your own risk depends on age, diagnosis, conditioning regimen, antibody levels and how experienced the centre is with mismatched grafts.

  • 10/10 matched sibling marrow donor: lowest GVHD and best survival, available to only ~25% of patients
  • 10/10 matched unrelated donor: outcomes now statistically close to a matched sibling
  • 9/10 single-allele mismatch: roughly 5–10% absolute survival penalty, still routinely done
  • Haploidentical (5/10) with post-transplant cyclophosphamide: outcomes approaching matched donors, and almost every patient has a parent, child or sibling who qualifies
  • Kidney: a negative crossmatch matters more than the match grade — zero-mismatch grafts last longest, but haplo-identical family grafts do very well

After the report — what nobody explains

Your type never changes

HLA is inherited and fixed for life. One good high-resolution report can be reused for every future transplant, registry search or platelet request — keep the PDF safe. We archive yours too.

Antibodies do change

Every transfusion, pregnancy or failed graft can create new anti-HLA antibodies. DSA is repeated at set intervals and always within 2 weeks of surgery.

Mismatch is not rejection

A mismatched allele only matters if your immune system has actually seen it. A mismatch with no corresponding antibody is far safer than a match with high-MFI DSA.

Desensitisation exists

High DSA is treatable with plasmapheresis, IVIG and rituximab before surgery, monitored bead by bead. It adds around 2 weeks and cost — not impossibility.

Send the reports. Know who can donate in 72 hours.

No forms, no payment, no obligation. A transplant immunologist reads your existing typing or plans the right panel, tells you honestly who in the family is a realistic donor, and what it costs.

We reply on WhatsApp within 1 hour. Your reports are never shared with anyone else.

120 families requested HLA matching guidance in the last 30 days

Visa, travel and the family

HLA typing usually means several relatives being tested together, and often two patients travelling later — recipient and donor. We handle the paperwork for all of them at once, and swab kits can be couriered to you before anyone flies.

e-Medical Visa approved in 24–48 hours for all countries
Regular medical visa in 2–5 working days depending on country
Hospital invitation letter issued in 2–4 hours
Separate attendant visas for donors and family
Buccal swab kits couriered abroad so typing starts before travel
Donor legal / authorisation committee documents prepared for you

Families who found their donor

"Four siblings were typed in one morning. The youngest was a full 10/10 match — we had been told for a year that no donor existed."

Amanuel T. · Addis Ababa

"My son's crossmatch with me was positive. They found the antibody, removed it over two weeks, and the transplant went ahead."

Fatima A. · Kano

"The swab kit reached Tashkent in three days. By the time we landed the matching was already finished and the donor was chosen."

Bekhruz S. · Tashkent

What HLA typing really tells you

HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) molecules are the identity badges on your cells. Your immune system reads them constantly and attacks anything wearing the wrong badge. Typing reads the exact alleles you inherited — one set from each parent — so a transplant team can predict whether a graft will be accepted or rejected, whether donor immune cells will attack your body after a bone marrow transplant, and whether you already carry antibodies that make a particular donor unusable. Modern next-generation sequencing reads the gene letter by letter, so a '10/10 match' today means far more than the old serology-based match of twenty years ago.

When HLA testing is needed

  • Kidney transplant donor work-up
  • Bone marrow / stem cell transplant matching
  • Liver transplant with a living donor
  • Unrelated donor registry search
  • Cord blood unit selection
  • Repeat transplant after graft loss
  • Platelet transfusion refractoriness
  • Suspected antibody-mediated rejection
  • Drug hypersensitivity screening (B*57:01, B*15:02, B*58:01)
  • Coeliac, ankylosing spondylitis, narcolepsy, Behçet's work-up

HLA matching questions, answered straight

Send the reports. Know who can donate in 72 hours.

No forms, no payment, no obligation. A transplant immunologist reads your existing typing or plans the right panel, tells you honestly who in the family is a realistic donor, and what it costs.

4 families are reading this page right now

WhatsAppChat Now