Does anyone have experience with a loved one donating their body to science?

A friend's dad donated his body to science while in the hospital. He was given a couple months to live and he did not want a funeral. No family left other than a couple cousins. The company was located in Houston and they handled transport, cremation, death certificate and all paperwork. No cost to the family. The family had a small Celebration of Life at their home and no funeral expenses. It really turned out great. As a result, I am now a registered donor in my state.

MY SIL and DIL are both Drs. One of the great trials they encountered in Med School was simply that there were not enough cadavers to go around. Best case, 2 students per cadaver, They were 4-8 on some. That's just not enough.

I am toying with the idea of donating my body to science. We have a Med School here and I know there will always be a need.

After the donation, the cremains are returned to the family, if they choose, or placed in a special resting place. My DIL talked about the "party" (kind of the wrong word, more of a memorial service" to pay honor to those people who donated their bodies. She said the students were taught to respect these remains as if they had been family.

My mom had arranged to donate her body to the medical school across the state from where she lived -- if you phone the medical school, they can direct you to the right department, it wasn't difficult in terms of paperwork.

Then she died in another state. The next morning I got on the phone with that medical school and then said rather than go to the expense of shipping her body, just call the medical school nearest us (which they named for me).

There ARE some restrictions. Cadavers for the anatomy class need to be complete -- no organ-removing surgeries -- and there are a couple of diseases they won't take (the infectious ones, if I recall correctly).

They told us we would receive her ashes in one to two YEARS ... which was accurate.

The total cost to us was under $200 (this was in 2002) for transportation. We had a fine memorial service at the time, and were invited to the medical school's memorial service at the end of her 'cadaver' year.

A similar experience in a different state when my in-laws died, a year or two apart.

Since we live near the UB medical school, we donated bodies there. They would pick up the body only if it was within 35 miles of the school. If you are far from a medical school, you need to ask your funeral director about the cost of transport.

My mom had funeral pre-planning and when she passed, it still cost us nearly $5000 to cremate and bury her; $5000 of which we didn’t have to spare and are still trying to make up for. Her life savings was eaten up by the nursing home spend down. That’s the financial part. Mom was 95 and had absolutely no family or friends. She was not religious. That’s the social part. After going through that, I am sincerely considering speaking with my husband and asking him if he wants to donate. I already know I do. We had a friend who did, and her family had a wonderful memorial for her. Her ashes were there and I know that she approved of the service.

jeannegibbs - the cremains were returned a couple months later.

My father died in 2012. He had signed the papers to donate his body to the Oklahoma University Body Donor Program located in Norman, Oklahoma, many years before that.

When he died, I notified the program director. He notified a local funeral home, and Dad's body was removed to the funeral home, and sent on to the university. There was no cost to our family.

Before his body was used by med students, there was a luncheon for the families of the deceased, and I got to meet the students that would be studying Dad's body. They asked me all types of questions about Dad and our family. They wanted to know about Dad's life, his likes and dislikes, etc. They were a great group of students, and they made me feel like Dad's contribution was very much appreciated. When their coursework with Dad's body was over (approximately a year later), there was a memorial ceremony for the families and again I got to visit with the students and Dad's contribution was recognized. It was very moving. Dad's ashes were taken care of by the university. (Dad could have had them sent back home to us, but he didn't sign up for that.) This was such a positive experience that three other family members and I have already done the paperwork to donate our bodies when the time comes.

Sciencecare.com is amazing. Body pickup, cremation, memorial and deliver the ashes to next of kin. Absolutely no cost. You get a summary of the research of which you can open or not. Wonderful people.

If the deceased or the family did not want to donate the entire body, the corneas can be donated. The corneas will be accepted even if the deceased had implants. Ask ahead, if you have time.

Check out www.sciencecare.com My friend's mother used them and they were so pleased that they signed up. They're in many states. No cost.

My LO had an infectious disease, so his body can't be donated. Wanted to let others know that I've made and prepaid for his cremation expenses, which was around $1400, including the container. What you may not know, is that the funeral home's prices aren't set in stone. I got several quotes, and the funeral home that I actually preferred matched the lowest price. It was very comforting to have it completed, and they have all of his bio info for the death certificate and obituary. I urge you to do that. Now I need to get back there and do it for myself!