An Inclusive Resource to Body Donation
If you are not comfortable with the concept of organ donation because you wish to keep your body or the body of a loved one in tact, or if you are not eligible for organ donation for whatever reason, but still wish to contribute something in death, you might consider donating your body to a medical school or institution.
Body donation is a generous and humanitarian decision. Typically, donated bodies used as anatomical subjects for medical schools, helping interns learn aspects of medical science. Medical Schools and other institutions always have a need for body donation. Often, if the deceased died of an illness, the affects of that illness, its causes and potential cures can be researched by studying the body. Many lives have been saved because people donated their bodies to science.
Because medical schools are prohibited from buying or soliciting bodies for donation, a potential donor will need to approach a school or institution to make their wishes known. Anyone of any age is free to offer their body to an institution upon their passing. Some wish to donate their whole body; others want to donate particular organs or tissues.
From a funeral standpoint, most people that opt to donate their bodies when they die have decided to forego the traditional funeral services.
Since the body will usually be taken directly to the institution to which it has been donated, the bereaved often hold a simple memorial service without the body present.
Most often, there is no wake since the body has not been embalmed in the conventional way (embalming for scientific purposes is an entirely different process than that of embalming for temporary viewing). Though a memorial service may be deemed as unnecessary, those that remain often wish to gather together in their period of mourning to comfort one another or honor the memory of the deceased.
In some instances, the institution to which the body has been donated will offer to pay for a memorial service. The cost of these services is usually quite minimal due to the lack of body preparation and other traditional costs such as caskets, monuments or property.
Typically, the decision to donate a body to science is made by an individual who is pre-planning his or her own funeral. Those planning a funeral for a loved one that has just passed away are unlikely to volunteer the body to a medical school since the bereaved often have a sentimental attachment to the body.
If you wish to donate your body to science, make your wishes clear well in advance of your death. Put that information in your will, inform your relatives and contact the institution to which you want your body donated so that there's no question whatsoever as to your wishes on the matter.
We should note, however, that some religions forbid or discourage body donation. Many religions consider that the body is a temple, the vessel for the soul, or has a strict connection to God, while others feel that the remains of the deceased should stay as intact as possible since that at the End of Days, the body is rejoined with the soul, the. If you are planning to donate someone's body, you should be certain that you're not going against anything they might have believed or held dear.
About the Author:
Hal is the author of several critically acclaimed ebooks specifically written to help people deal with end of life issues. His ebooks include topics such as: cremation, writing and delivering a eulogy, eco-friendly green funerals, funeral planning, organ donation, and buying and selling cemetery plots. To find out more about his CemeterySpot family of free services and resources, to learn more about his books, and to get a free gift, please visit: http://www.cemeteryspot.com.