Organ & Body Donation

Factors like wealth or celebrity status aren't considered when deciding who gets an available transplant organ.

Donor Registration

You can register to be an organ donor with your local Department of Motor Vehicles, and have it noted on your driver's license. You can also find state specific registration at http://www.organdonor.gov/donor/registry.shtm. It's important to carry your donor card with you at all times in your wallet.

If you want to donate your entire body to medical research, it's best to contact a large medical research facility near you, usually a university. Most whole body donations must be arranged ahead of time, and each research facility has different rules and procedures.

If you want to donate organs and other body parts at the time of your death, you probably won't be eligible to donate what's left to a medical research facility, as their need is for whole bodies without any missing parts.

Discussions With Family Members

Once you've registered, it's a good idea to discuss your wishes with your family, so that it won't come as a shock to them, and so that they understand how important it is to you that your wishes be followed. In some states, a family member who doesn't want an organ or body donation to proceed after a loved one's death can override donor registry.

While there isn't any cost to the donor's family for organ and tissue donation, your family will still be responsible for funeral and burial expenses. If you're donating your entire body to a medical research facility, there will often be a procedure in place for cremation and the scattering of your ashes in a specific location. Or your family can request that your cremated ashes be returned to them.

If the medical facility to which you're donating your body can't use it at the time of your death, for whatever reason, your family will be responsible for making burial or cremation arrangements.

Coordinating With Other Estate Planning Tools

It's a good idea to include your wishes to become an organ or body donor in your health care directive/proxy, so there won't be any guessing as to your intentions at the time you're admitted to a hospital.

It's tempting to want to include your desire to be a donor in your will. But this is often ineffective, as a will is typically not discovered or read until the after the opportunity for organ donation has passed.

While you can't guarantee that your organs or body will necessarily be useful to someone else after your death, you can make it possible by planning and acting now.

Related Web links:

Local Body Donation Programs

National Marrow Donor Program Registry Info