Body, Brain, & Organ Donation
Did you know... Anatomical donation (full body donation to science) and brain donation both require registration and the use of a funeral home.
Did you know... All donations are LGBTQIA+ welcoming.
Did you know… Most Religious, Secular, and Spiritual Identity (RSSI) affiliations encourage compassionate donations at the time of death. If you’re not sure, contact your congregational leader for guidance.
Our true legacy is the positive difference we’ve made in the world and in the lives of others. Many people want to ensure that even after death they continue to make a positive impact through the most personal of donations. Just telling your family you want to do this and leaving them to “figure it out” at the time is not enough.
I’m Tee Rogers if you don’t know me yet. My job is to make sure there are no financial, emotional, or logistical surprises for your family when a loved one dies. Let’s take one more rock out of the backpack they’ll carry on that difficult day and reduce their burden by pre-planning.
Here’s what you need to know.
Body & Brain Donation
Body donation is where the entire body is donated to science for the training of new medical professionals and for research. Once the medical purpose is fulfilled, the body is cremated and can be returned to the family.
For body donation, there are two ways you can register. One is through a free service; another is to plan directly with a medical program and a funeral home. When you plan with a funeral home, the cost you pre-pay for professional services ensures that even if you are not accepted into the program at the time (which can happen for many reasons), your family does not incur any additional costs or logistical decisions. Everything is taken care of.
Learn more: UCF Willed Body Program
Brain donation is where the brain is removed after death and provided for research purposes. The body remains intact and can be buried or cremated.
For brain donation, you need to register with the brain bank. After the donation takes place, you’ll need a plan for a funeral home to pick you up and take you into care. You can choose traditional burial or cremation and move forward with services and final resting place options.
I had the honor of briefly participating in the 2022 DAV conference, where i met some people from Project Enlist. This initiative serves as a catalyst for research on military veterans with TBI, CTE, and PTSD by increasing Veteran brains donated for study. Since 2000, more than 430,000 service members shave been diagnosed with a TBI, which puts them at significantly greater risk. Learn more at ProjectEnlist.org.
Learn more: Florida Brain Bank – for critical scientific research that is aimed at ultimately curing Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias.
Learn more: VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank – for critical scientific research to accurately diagnose and treat many brain diseases, including Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), for veterans and athletes.
Organ, Eye, & Tissue Donation
Organ, Eye, & Tissue donation is where parts of your body are taken at the hospital and provided to directly save lives. The body is treated with the utmost respect and care at all stages and can be buried or cremated.
Organ, Eye, & Tissue donation is giving parts of your body to someone whose life will be saved or significantly improved through your kindness. You can also do living donations (a piece of liver or one kidney, for example) and separate authorizations for hand and face donations.
Once the donation has taken place at the hospital, you’ll need a plan for a funeral home to pick you up and take you into care. As with brain donation, you can choose traditional burial or cremation and plan services and final resting place options.
If your donation is not pre-planned, your next-of-kin will be asked about your wishes. Pre-planning takes the burden off of them and places the decisions in your own hands.
Dignity Memorial (the national funeral provider i represent) has a national partnership with Donate Life America, and we work closely with Our Legacy, our local procurement and patient & family care provider.
Join me & register with Dignity Memorial’s Donate Life Registry
Learn more – FAQ from Donate Life America
Make your donation-focused pre-planning appointment today.
