haha yeah, but you're dead, who's going to be there to stop them?

True, I suppose. Although there would be a certain amount of family involvement there. They have to call the place for the pick-up. I think places like this would adhere to what you and they agreed to, the potential for lawsuits if the family found out would be staggering.

Also, really, you'd be dead, would it really matter what was going to happen to the chunky leftovers?

You can bury cremains. Then have a headstone and the total cemetery experience.

This thread isn't really about donating JUST your organs. It's about total body donation.

For those that said they are organ donors, after they harvest what they can, would you be okay with shipping the rest of your body off to a donation center?

I'm an organ donor, have been for a long time.

By now at my age not sure if anyone would want my organs. /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wacko:' />

I would not have a problem with a donation center. I think my family would not allow it, though.

Does it say any thing about family members of the deceased being able to stop body donation?

Just curious, thanks.

I'm an organ donor, have been for a long time.

By now at my age not sure if anyone would want my organs. /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':blink:' />

I would not have a problem with a donation center. I think my family would not allow it, though.

Does it say any thing about family members of the deceased being able to stop body donation?

Just curious, thanks.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think even if you signed papers to consent to body donation, your next of kin would have actual say over what happens to your body. Even then, if your family member didn't want to do it, all they would have to do is not call the center for the body pick-up. Then it would be too late and your family could proceed as usual with funeral arrangements.

I'll have to look into that to be completely sure though.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think even if you signed papers to consent to body donation, your next of kin would have actual say over what happens to your body. Even then, if your family member didn't want to do it, all they would have to do is not call the center for the body pick-up. Then it would be too late and your family could proceed as usual with funeral arrangements.

I'll have to look into that to be completely sure though.

Thanks BA, that's sort of what I thought.

I noticed on the Body Worlds site, you pay for your body to be transported there.

Lots to consider in doing this.

Interesting topic.

There's a book out about cryogenics and some of the shenanigans that goes on there. Any fan of Ted Williams should check it out because it deals specifically w/the debacle surrounding his death and preservation (and i use that term loosely). Frozen by Larry Johnson, it's frightening!

I was able to tour and interview the managers of a Cryonics agency in Arizona about a year and a half ago. It is rare that they let reporters into their facility, but I was writing for Engineering and Technology magazine, and they allowed me full access to their facilities and staff. It was fascinating to say the least.

If anyone is interested in reading my article on Cryonics, click here: http://kn.theiet.org/magazine/…..sues/0819/…ut-deadline.cfm

Make sure to check out the Myths surrounding cryonics on the right side of the article.

Very interesting article Cheryl.

“Cryonics is a medical procedure, a radical form of first-aid, and is no more an affront to religion than a heart transplant,”

I like it.

“If sceptics don’t want to pursue this area, that’s fine, but I ask them not to interfere with my own efforts to save the lives of myself and the people I love,”

Again, I like it.

This was under the "myths" section:

The purpose of cryonics is to intercept and stop the dying process within the window of time that it may be reversible in the future. The first few minutes of clinical death are certainly reversible, even today. There are good reasons to believe that this window will extend further in the future. That is why cryonics is sometimes implemented even long after the heart stops. Cryonics is not a belief that the dead can be revived. Cryonics is a belief that no one is really dead until their mind is destroyed, and that low temperatures have the potential to prevent this destruction.

The question here is when does the mind become destroyed? Is this referring to complete destruction, such as cremation, or destruction, as in all electrical activity has ceased? Really though, regardless of the answer to this question, it will remain, I believe, one of those controversial subjects because the death point of the mind is so questionable.

What do they do to them Gene?

Well, for the most part, everyone has their turn with them….the dental students play with the teeth, then different medical students do their thing, and the cadaver just gets funneled down the line for each department to practice on. Most of the cadavers we worked on in college for embalming were unclaimed….meaning these were homeless people or people whose families did not want to claim their bodies due to countless reasons.

Several months ago, after reading Stiff by Mary Roach, I got very curious about donating my body to science. I sent away for an information packet about it, and boy is it complicated!

Now I'm curious about the general consensus about the topic.

Would you ever donate your body to science? Moreover, if you did donate your body, would there be something that you didn't want them to do with your body? Some bodies are used as crash test dummies, some are farmed out for pieces for plastic surgery students to practice on. There is also a clause that would make it possible for your family to know exactly where your body went and what it was used for. If a family member donated, would you want to know what was done with them?

After they do with you whatever it is they are going to do with you, they cremate the rest and send it back to your family.

If you wouldn't donate your body, why? Are there religious reasons? Personal ones? Familial ones?

As I said, pure curiosity here. I'd love your opinions and thoughts on the subject.

To me when you die you are just entering the next phase, and I don't mean spiritually. That's a topic for another debate. (only don't let it get too rowdy around here!! lol lol) You can spend your next phase all by yourself in a dark box underneath a bit of earth, you can always skip the phase all together and be cremated, or you can make yourself more useful than you probably were in life by donating your body. You get to go to all different places and do all sorts of new and interesting things. I'd do it for sure. It's sort of like "Join The Navy And See The World"!!