What determines the positive or negative on blood type?
Abigail Rogers
Updated on April 28, 2026
Your Rh status (positive or negative) is determined by an antigen found on your red blood cells (RBCs). Being Rh-positive or Rh-negative means that either you have the Rhesus D antigen on your RBCs (positive) or you don’t (negative). Rh status is inherited from our parents, separately from our blood type.
What makes someone’s blood type negative?
Each person has two Rh factors in their genetics, one from each parent. The only way for someone to have a negative blood type is for both parents to have at least one negative factor. For example, if someone’s Rh factors are both positive, it is not possible for his or her child to have a negative blood type.
What determines blood type A positive?
If your blood is A positive (A+), it means that your blood contains type-A antigens with the presence of a protein called the rhesus (Rh) factor. Antigens are markers on the surface of a blood cell. According to the American Red Cross, this is one of the most common blood types.
Which parent determines the blood type of the child?
Just like eye or hair color, our blood type is inherited from our parents. Each biological parent donates one of two ABO genes to their child. The A and B genes are dominant and the O gene is recessive. For example, if an O gene is paired with an A gene, the blood type will be A.
What is the difference between positive and negative blood type?
The key difference between O positive and O negative is that the O positive blood has Rh factor on their cell membranes of the red blood cells whereas O negative blood does not have Rh factor.
What are the traits of a positive blood type?
Type A Positive. People with the Type A positive blood group, are said to be very trustful, honest and conscientious to a fault. Type A positives are also known to be perfectionists, they might seem outwardly calm but tend to be a bag of nerves within. Type A are also artistic and are sometimes shy and sensitive too.
What type of diet is ideal for Rh negative people?
Within the directives of the ABO blood type diet, Rh negative individuals should eat a variety of meats, poultry, seafood, European fruits and vegetables, roots, tubers and seeds.
Who can donate blood to a positive?
The fact that O positive blood can be donated to all RhD positive blood types means that O positive blood group holders can donate to 83 percent of the entire population. To determine the blood type, an individual needs to take a blood test.