Whole Body Donation Blog

While discussing changing trends in our industry recently we touched upon some things that we felt we should share with others about body donation. The things that we commonly hear when assisting a family are;  how does this work, how will you get me or my loved one from where we are to where you are, how much does this cost, how soon will cremated remains be returned to us and does disease like cancer mean I or my loved one cannot donate. We will address each of these and we invite your comments and concerns so that we may discuss them and offer sound advice and useful information for all who are interested in donating their body to science.

How does this work? It's quite simple and from start to finish involves paperwork (5-10 minutes), mailing, emailing or faxing completed forms to us, and a telephone interview for medical/social history and biographical information (10-15 minutes). Once these steps are completed the donor is registered. The donor or their family would need to advise our staff of any changes in medical status (surgery, donor's condition worsens, new information about the donor's condition, the donor or their next of kin moves or changes their phone number.) Once the donor passes the next of kin or family or friend contacts our staff to report the death. One phone call to our 24 hour toll free number sets the process into motion and everything will be managed for you and your family.

How will you get me or my loved one from where we are to where you are? Our staff will arrange local transportation (anywhere in the continental US) with one of our local (to you) mortuary representatives. This mortuary representative will have our strict protocols and will respond quickly to the donor's location to advise the location of who they are and when they will arrive. Again, our staff and this particular representative will arrange air and or ground transportation depending on the physical location of the donor. Paperwork (death certificates, permits and cremation certificate) will be managed by our staff and the cost of death certificates will then be reported to the family.

How much does this cost?  Life Quest Anatomical does not charge a fee for donation, transportation or cremation. All costs for donation are covered by our program. The only cost the family is responsible for is paperwork. Their is a paperwork processing fee of $95 plus the cost of death certificaes. The average cost of death certificates is $12-$15 or more. An LQA representative will advise you of the costs for the county the donor passed in. It is important to note that if the donor and their family have a true financial hardship and they communicate this up front, the paperwork fees are waived and up to 3 death certificates are provided. In this case donation would cost $0. For information about cost please click here.

How soon will cremated remains be returned to the family? Cremated remains are returned to the family in as little as 30 days. Donors and their families wishing to make other arrangements such as having returns sooner, sending cremated remains to veterans cemetery, or to another family member can advise our staff of their wishes and they will be carried out quickly and with great care.

Do diseases like cancer mean I cannot donate?  Eligibility is based on the availability of sound medical history and the physical condition of the donor prior to and up to death. Cancer is one of many vitally important areas of study our program supports for both education and research. As such we do not exclude those with cancer, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease and many other diseases.. To assure you can donate we conduct a detailed medical interview to assure we can place a donor with medical studies that will benefit medical science. For more informtaion on who can donate please click here.

www.lifequestanatomical.com

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