Among
other things, you'll do a world of good
Stephanie Thurrott April 1, 2019
Something good can grow
when you donate your body to science.
When you face the
death of a loved one, you’re facing more than grief. You can suffer a financial
hit: Funerals are expensive.
According to the
National Funeral Directors Association, in 2017 the average
cost of a funeral with burial was $7,360. Think you’ll save
money with cremation? Not a lot. Choosing cremation drops the cost to $6,250,
on average.
But donate your body
to science, and most of those expenses could vanish.
“Cost savings is one
of the reasons people donate,” says Corinne Bell, executive director and chief
operations officer at Anatomy Gifts Registry, a non-profit donation
organization.
Called “whole body
donation,” after death, your body could benefit medical research and training
instead of sitting in a cemetery.
Charries Semidey, 44,
an educator from Kissimmee, Fla., registered to donate her body after her
grandmother’s death. She did it for more altruistic reasons than the cost
savings—she wants to continue teaching, even after her death.
“To me, it’s a free
opportunity to teach and engage in medical science,” Semidey says. “I know in
the future I’ll continue to live on. I’m teaching on earth, and I’ll be
teaching beyond that.”
You can support
research
Bell says Semidey’s
motivation is common—many people choose to donate because they want to see
something good come out of their death.
According to researchers, fewer than 20,000 people donate
their bodies each year in the U.S. But Bell says she’s seeing an increase in
donations through her organization, and there are 60,000 preregistered donors
in their database.
While organ donation
is tracked by the U. S. Department of Health
and Human Services, whole body donation is not.
The research and education
that come from whole body donation benefits everyone, says Katrina Hernandez,
vice president of donor services at Science Care, a company that pairs donors
with researchers and educators.
“If you’ve ever been
in a doctor’s office, received medical care, or had surgery, you’ve benefited,”
she says.
Other feel-good
reasons
Researchers use
donated bodies to look for ways to improve outcomes for people with diabetes,
heart disease, Alzheimer’s, or other diseases, she says.
They study whether
CT, MRI, and ultrasound scans can be as effective as more invasive procedures,
Bell says.
Medical schools use
donated bodies to train students, and experienced surgeons train with donated
bodies to learn how to place new medical devices.
“It’s the only way to
test in a way that doesn’t put living people in harm’s way”
Corinne Bell,
executive director
Anatomy Gifts
Registry
There’s a lot of
demand in orthopedics, Hernandez says, as the aging population needs more hip
and knee replacements and back surgery.
Paramedics and EMTs
practice opening airways and performing other lifesaving procedures with
donated bodies, Bell says.
“It’s required for
medical science to advance,” she says. “It’s the only way to test in a way that
doesn’t put living people in harm’s way.”
There are other
feel-good reasons to consider whole-body donation, too. It lessens your carbon
footprint compared to taking up space in
a cemetery, Semidey points out.
And it decreases the
use of animal testing, says Bell.
What to consider
Interested? You’ll
most likely qualify. More than 90% of prospective donors do, and cancer, heart
disease, diabetes, and advanced age don’t rule you out, Hernandez says.
Certain contagious
diseases most commonly disqualify people. Severe trauma and obesity may also
rule out donation, Bell says.
Some people want to
donate in their geographic area, or to a specific university or medical school.
If that’s the case for you, contact them to make sure you meet their
requirements. Some cities and states also have regulations about where and how
you can donate.
You may want your
body to support research that’s important to you, like Alzheimer’s, depression,
or cancer. If that’s the case, look for an organization that can facilitate
these types of donations—not all do.
You may want to
donate both your organs and your body. That’s possible—after your death,
doctors can remove your organs first, and then coordinate your body donation,
says Hernandez.
Get the details
If you’re squeamish
about how your body might be used after your death, ask for details before you
register. To maximize research opportunities, some organizations send parts of
your body to different places.
And some uses, like
forensic decomposition studies or trauma studies, might not be part of your
end-of-life plan.
If receiving your
cremated remains is important to you or your loved ones, make sure the
organization you choose offers that option. And ask about the timeframe. It
could take weeks—or years—for your ashes to be returned, depending on how your
body is used.
Some organizations
will mail letters to your loved ones, detailing how your donation benefited
research or education.
Tell your family
If you decide to
donate your body, let your loved ones know. Semidey added her wishes to her living will to make
sure they were clear.
Bell says that
sometimes, even though someone is preregistered, her organization finds out
years later that they passed away. “Unfortunately, they never explained their
wishes to family members,” she says.
If you decide to
donate your body, let your loved ones know.
It’s preferable to
preregister to donate your body, so you can answer any questions about your
wishes and complete the paperwork. But you can donate up to the time of death,
or even soon after. Or your family members can donate on your behalf.
Procedures differ
with different organizations, but most take care of everything from
transportation to cremation. You may be responsible for fees for things like
additional copies of death certificates or shipping ashes, Bell says.
Whole body donation
is a highly regulated industry. The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act prohibits the
sale or purchase of human body parts.
And cities and states
have their own regulations. For example, Bell says that Minnesota only allows
whole-body donations to medical schools based in that state.
To learn more, you
can contact Science Care or Anatomy Gifts
Registry, or check this state-by-state
list of medical schools and organizations that seek
donors.
It’s not for everyone
While many people
recognize the benefits of whole-body donation, some people simply don’t want to
think about or talk about dying or death, Bell says. Or, they find the idea
gruesome.
And some religions
require that bodies be intact at burial, she says.
Plus, some people
value the traditional funeral, burial, and cemetery plot over whole-body
donation. “They want to visit their loved one at the cemetery. They feel they
are still with them in some way,” Bell says.
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