{"id":120802,"date":"2012-01-30T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2012-01-30T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/?p=120802"},"modified":"2023-11-04T10:39:44","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T16:39:44","slug":"how-to-donate-your-body-to-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/how-to-donate-your-body-to-science\/","title":{"rendered":"How to donate your body to science (for money?)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A basic burial averages close to $6,600 in the United States. Many people worry about the financial burden this places on their families. There is a way around this besides opting to be cremated and carrying enough life insurance<\/a>: whole-body donation.<\/p>\n

It’s estimated that at least 20,000 bodies are donated each year<\/a>. I’m considering it myself. The idea of contributing to medical education and research intrigues me \u2014 and I also like the idea that it potentially means a no-cost funeral.<\/p>\n

That sounds like the lowest form of cheapskatery, but hear me out.<\/strong> I’d planned on cremation, since my personal desire is not to take up any real estate after death. I’d rather leave this mortal coil to the folks who are still alive to enjoy it. But even a bargain-rate cremation runs about $750, and if surviving family wanted a chance to say goodbye first it would cost more. Maybe a lot more.<\/p>\n

My estate is fairly small, and I’d like to leave as much of it as possible to my only child, who experiences some disability. And again: I’d like to help future doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals improve their skill sets.<\/p>\n

Your religious faith may have strict rules about how a corpse should be treated. Or maybe you just can’t get past the idea that you will be dissected over a period of months in anatomy class, or cut up and divided among different programs (brain to an Alzheimer’s study, joints to an orthopedic surgery training).<\/p>\n

If that bothers you, then of course you shouldn’t do it. Keep in mind there won’t be much bodily integrity in that 6-by-3 slot in the soil, either. Your body will decompose. Ashes to ashes and all that.<\/p>\n

<\/span>A Caring and Gracious Act<\/span><\/h2>\n

If I were a wagering woman, I’d bet that 90% of the readers who saw the headline either shuddered or said \u201ceeewww.\u201d Maybe both.<\/p>\n

Riddle me this: Why is organ donation lauded while donating a body gives us the heebie-jeebies? They’re both caring, gracious acts. But you probably won’t see a Lifetime movie about the impact of whole-body donation because people generally find the idea deeply creepy. It puts the \u201cgross\u201d in \u201cgross anatomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here’s another way of thinking about it: Whole-body donation benefits all of us, every day. Any physician trained in the United States worked with cadavers. New medical instruments and new surgical methods are perfected on human tissues, joints, and bones.<\/p>\n

Altruism is the usual motive for donation, according to industry spokespeople. (Yep, it’s an industry. More on that in a minute.) People designate their bodies for study to contribute to the greater good.<\/p>\n

Not every medical school has a \u201cwilled body\u201d program, however. The ones that don’t need to get cadavers from somewhere else. Sometimes that means another medical school, but it usually involves one of the handful of nonprofit and for-profit companies that procure human tissue in this country.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Do You Get Paid for Donating Your Body to Science?<\/span><\/h2>\n

How do those companies obtain bodies? By paying for transport and final disposition, that’s how. Hence the idea of a free funeral.<\/p>\n

Not every medical school pays for preliminary embalming and transportation of cadavers. Posthumous enrollment in gross anatomy class means getting your own ride to school. By contrast, the human-tissue procurement companies pay for all of it, from pickup to cremation.<\/p>\n

Here’s how to find out more about both options:<\/p>\n