How to Make a Body Donation

It is fairly simple to make a body donation but it can have lasting, positive results. It will be used for either medical research or for medical education. Whether it is used for research on a new technique or to educate future doctors your donation stands to benefit everyone. You can decide that you would like to make a body donation of your own body and participate in a willed body program or you may decide to donate the body of a loved one as next of kin.

Instructions

• 1

  Decide whether you want to make the body donation directly to the institution of your choice or if you would like to donate it through a third party service. Most third party services will take care of all expenses such as transportation, cremation of the remains and returning the ashes to the family if you wish. If you are donating directly to an institution, there may be expenses incurred by you. However, you should know that third party services charge the receiving institutions for their services. They are for profit organizations.

• 2

  Whether you are making an immediate body donation or signing up for the willed body program, there are forms to be filled out. Contact the institution or organization you have chosen for the required paperwork.

• 3

  Determine if the body donation is suitable for use. Bodies that have hepatitis B or C, HIV or Aids, active TB, syphilis, extreme obesity or advanced decomposition are not candidates due to the potential danger of exposure. They will not be accepted. Check with the institution for other factors that may prohibit donation.

• 4

  Once you have chosen and contacted the organization and filled out the paperwork, follow the instructions they give you. They will walk you through the actual mechanics of making the body donation such as arranging transportation. Each place will have its own methods.