Donating Your Body: Why and How

Have you ever thought about donating your body? Or, as the phrase goes, donating your body to science? Donating your body is not a comfortable subject to think about or to talk to loved ones about, but it is something everyone should think about. If you plan to be cremated anyway, then donating your body may be the way to go.

The advantages to donating your body are twofold: financial and the doing of a good deed. If you donate your body, most medical schools and private organizations will provide free cremation and return the ashes to your loved ones. Your estate therefore has no burial expenses. You can have a memorial service but your ashes won't be there unless your survivors wait for about three weeks to get your ashes.

University medical schools are chronically short of bodies and they need donated bodies for their basic anatomy courses and for many of their specializations. Human bodies are indispensable in teaching for physicians, nurses, dentists, occupational and physical therapists, paramedics, and morticians. Donating your body therefore helps all students in these fields. It also helps in basic research and in improving new surgical procedures.

Mainstream Protestants, Catholics, and Reform Jews approve body donations. Some religious beliefs require an intact body for a future resurrection so be sure to check with your religious leaders before deciding to donate your body.

Before donating your body, you should also have a frank discussion with your next of kin. The idea of your body being carved up by medical students may be painful to them, but if you point out the good that can come from it they will usually come around.

There are two ways of donating your body. You can donate directly to your nearest University medical school or you can donate to a private organization like Life Quest. If you donate to a University, make sure that they cover cremation and that there are no costs to your family. In some states families can end up paying fees that can equal or exceed the price of direct cremation.

You don't need to worry about your age; there is no upper limit for donating your body. In fact, the average age is 85.

If you want to donate to a university medical school, call the school and get forms from them. If you want to donate to an organization like Life Quest, you can get the forms online. You need to sign a Donor Willed Body Self Consent Form, and a cremation authorization. Make copies and make sure the next of kin know where the copies are. The medical school or private organization will need to be notified upon your death so that they can pick up your body.

Donating your body is an uncomfortable subject but it is a very good way to save some money for your heirs and do good at the same time.