Donating a loved one's body to science

[Rhond24]

Elderly DDad, at age 93, has decided that he wants to donate his body to science (ie to a medical school). I've made preliminary investigations for him but I'm not sure how I feel about it. DM is 91 and after a lifetime of obeying, wouldn't go against his wishes - but deep down I'm not sure that she loves the idea either.
I feel like it's depriving those left behind of their own choice in the matter and the chance to say goodbye in a "normal" socially accepted way.
Does anyone have experience of doing this? How did it work out for your family?

My DSis wanted this, but sadly due to the nature of her illness and her treatment, she was declined. We were able to donate her corneas, which while upsetting at the time, we now feel was a good compromise.

I had an uncle who did this 14 years ago. The family were invited to a service at the city cathedral put on by the university and it was attended by families who had donated loved ones and student doctors, the service was lovely and all the doctors thanked the families as without cadavers the would never be able to learn. We also had a funeral after he died at the local church and instead of a coffin on the alter we had pictures. They did call about 18 months after to say his body was being released, they arranged the cremation and sent us the ashes we’d already had a funeral. He has a plot where his ashes are and a head stone the family can visit. It’s just a different way of doing things, he had signed up for the university program about 20 years prior to his death.

It’s not automatically accepted , depends what you die of. As a nurse I’ve tried to do this twice for patients and they were declined both times.

Why have you put the word ‘feelings’ in inverted commas? (I realise I also have but that’s because I’m quoting you 😂). You sound as though you think feelings are a made-up concept.

‘Get a grip’ is not great advice here, is it? The OP has not suggested that she is going to prevent her father’s wishes- she has simply come here to express her feelings and ask others for their experiences. We are all allowed to experience emotions, and to talk about them.

I used to work in a university mortuary and routinely handled the bodies of people who donated their bodies to science so feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the process.

As most people have said, you will have to contact your local medical school and they will arrange bequethal paperwork to be sent to your father. In the UK, all accepting organisations need to provide informed consent. All the information will be in the pack and he will need to sign them himself, it cannot be done by another family member.

In many cases, we have had people sign up to donate their bodies and the family members decide after they have passed that they don't want to go through with it and that's perfectly ok, if you feel that strongly about not doing it. There is no obligation to continue with the process. When the time comes, you can simply phone the organisation and if you want to continue, they'll guide you through the entire process or you phone up, say they've passed but you don't want to continue with the process and that is the end of it.
There may also be the possibility that his body won't be accepted and this could be due to a number of factors and in this case, you will have to make your own funeral arrangement.

The universities at I have worked at, and I don't know any who don't, provided a funeral service each year for the bodies who have been donated. In most cases, a body can be retained by the organisation for 3 years so it may take the full 3 years but you will be invited to a funeral service. Where I worked this was held in the university chapel where the minister, lecturers from the university and students all gave accounts of how much donations mean to them.
I don't know any in the UK who return the body for burial, in almost all cases I've know, the body will be cremated by the organisation and you have the option to collect the ashes or have them scattered by the organisation (my university had its own memorial garden). The cost of this is covered by the university. As are any transport costs for collecting the body (unless the body is coming a significant distance then there may be extra factors).

There are a lot of articles out there that are scary but please be aware a lot of that is out with the UK. The UK have a very strict set of legislation, rules and criteria to ensure things like that don't happen. The gift of someone donating their body, as many medical professional will tell you, and many people have said here, is so incredibly valuable to the teaching of the future of medicine and is treated with the utmost respect and dignity. I have first hand seen the number of young medical students, starting their degrees and their first steps in their careers in the dissecting room and the experiences and knowledge they receive from physical cadavers is so much more than they could ever get from books and apps and digital learning.

I appreciate how hard it can be for families knowing they might not have a 'traditional' funeral service. I had a relation die who had chosen to donate their body to science and while I was arranging transport, was told the family had changed their mind so please don't think that never happens and you'd be the only one because you're not.

Hope this helps.

There's a lot of useful information here for anyone in London and surrounding areas who might consider this. It makes it crystal clear that it might not happen, for a range of reasons. I suppose in some cases the prospective donor hasn't read this properly, or has forgotten the details, or the next of kin haven't understood the process, hence some of the confusion mentioned above.

Now toying with this idea for myself. I like the idea of being useful even after I'm dead. I've been on the donor register ever since I was old enough, but am probably a bit on the old side now for any of my organs to be of interest.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/london-anatomy-office

I sometimes get patients asking me about this and it's actually a lot of effort with no guarantee that your body will be accepted.

When I talk to the patients, they often want to be useful - I always recommend tissue donation which most people haven't heard of. Almost everyone can donate their corneas for example, there isn't an age limit and your tissue will definitely be very important to the recipient. Most donors are amazed that they body, which has generally let them down in big way, can still help someone else.

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/about-organ-donation/tissue-donation/

For donating your body to medical science -
In practice this is donating to a medical school for future doctors to learn anatomy. This isn't exactly what some donors think 'medical science' is. Also a lot of medical schools don't teach with cadavers anymore. I didn't learn on cadavers and it was fine.

You need to have signed all the paperwork and registered it with the medical school of your choice pre-death. And made sure your family members know this and agree otherwise they will just crack on and arrange a normal funeral. UK law is very strict so your relatives can't ring up to donate your body after you have died.

You also need to die near that medical school and on a convenient day - they won't accept over a bank holiday or weekend, or transport you from Cornwall to Edinburgh.

You also need to be the right weight - they won't accept anyone too big or too skinny.

And finally your body needs to demonstrate normal anatomy - if during the course of your illness you have had a lot of surgery or developed pressure sores, they won't accept it.

Anyway just another shout out for tissue donation and giving the gift of sight.

My fil always made his wishes known that he wanted to donate his body to science. He was 94 when he passed, just before easter weekend, all the colleges/training are closed over the holiday so his body couldn't be used, bless him. So a quick simple funeral was arranged.