Mayo Clinic requires preregistration for whole-body donation. The prospective donor must sign the Consent for Mayo Clinic Body Donation form. Mayo Clinic no longer accepts power of attorney, next of kin, guardian, or conservator signatures on behalf of the potential donor. The donor authorizes the gift of whole-body donation before death, but the legal next of kin is responsible for carrying out the donor's wishes. If the next of kin opposes the donation, it will not occur. Mayo Clinic advises donors to notify their families of their intentions.
Please note the Body Donation Program is on the Minnesota campus of Mayo Clinic. The Arizona and Florida campuses do not have body donation programs.
See initiating the donation process.
Body donation procedure
Mayo Clinic's procedure for accepting a whole-body donation begins with notification of a donor's death. A healthcare representative from the hospital, medical facility or hospice organization where the death occurs should contact Mayo Clinic's donor program coordinator.
The coordinator reviews the acceptance protocol to decide if the donation can be accepted. If the donation meets the acceptance criteria, the coordinator contacts the next of kin to determine if whole-body donation should proceed. Transportation of the body to Mayo Clinic is then be arranged.
If the death does not occur in a medical facility or under hospice care, local law enforcement personnel should be notified. The coroner or medical examiner determines if an autopsy is necessary. If no further investigation is required, Mayo Clinic is notified and proceeds with the acceptance procedure.
Typically, studies of donated bodies take 6 to 15 months. Mayo Clinic offers a type of cremation called biocremation as a means of final disposition. The biocremated remains can be returned to the family or interred in the Mayo Vault at Oakwood Cemetery in Rochester, Minnesota.
Mayo Clinic also provides traditional cremation as a means of final disposition. The cremated remains can be returned to the family or interred in the Mayo Vault at Oakwood Cemetery in Rochester, Minnesota. If burial of the body without cremation is the donor’s wish, the donor’s estate is responsible for all expenses.
Criteria and considerations for donation
Age
Prospective donors should not consider themselves too old for whole-body donation. Unlike most organ donation programs, age is rarely a factor in whole-body donation.
Whole-body donation after organ donation
An individual is not eligible for whole-body donation after multiorgan or skin donation. Our program does allow eye donation. Mayo Clinic's donor program coordinator consults with the organ donation organization, for example, Lifesource or Lions Eye Bank, to evaluate the potential for whole-body donation acceptance.
Specific disease study
Mayo Clinic's Body Donation Program does not accept bodies donated for specific disease research.
Denial of a donation
Mayo Clinic makes every effort to accept all program-registered donors. Below are some reasons why the program might deny a donation:
- The potential donor had an infectious or contagious disease, such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, tuberculosis or prion diseases.
- The next of kin objects to the donation of the body, the family is not in agreement or there is family discord.
- The body is not acceptable for anatomical study due to, for example, being extremely emaciated, being extremely obese, or having an extensive medical or surgical history.
- The body has been autopsied or mutilated or is decomposed.
- The body is not able to be in the care of the Mayo Clinic Body Donation Program within 48 hours of death.
- The body was embalmed before arrival at Mayo Clinic's facility.
- Donations are not needed at the time.
Mayo Clinic encourages all potential donors to have an alternate plan in case the donation isn't accepted.
Payment
There is no payment for body donation, as explicitly stated by law in every state. Mayo Clinic has limited funds to reimburse transportation expenses for a whole-body donation. Any expenses beyond the fund limit are the responsibility of the donor's estate. If the donor dies outside the state of Minnesota and the cost of transporting the body to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is too expensive, the next of kin can contact a nearby medical school about making the donation there.
Contact
Body Donation Program
Mayo Clinic
Stabile Building 9-22
200 First St. SW
Rochester, MN 55905
Phone: 507-284-2693
Email: MCDonorProgram@mayo.edu
You may request an informational packet using this online form.
