I'm telling people that I'm searching for a marrow donor.

(To "meet" her - and to be inspired to be a marrow donor - go to the Web site www.teammbwins.com.)

Only 20 percent of patients who search the registry find a compatible marrow donor, said Liz Quam, a spokeswoman for the program.

The annual need for marrow donors could eventually exceed 11,000, accordinmg to transplant specialists.

Anyone between 18 and 55 and in good health may become a registered marrow donor by giving a blood sample, which will be typed.

All were critically ill and the experimental procedure was undertaken as a last resort because medically compatible marrow donors could not be found for them.

To save her, she desperately needs a marrow donor, as she and her half-brother Fred are not from the same parent.

And donors are almost always siblings, so finding a matching bone marrow donor may not be possible.

When a marrow donor could not be found, doctors performed an umbilical-cord blood transplant March 22.

Dr. Caplan said he did not think it was wrong to have a baby because of the need for a marrow donor.