My mother has donated her body to science. She’s 82 and had always planned on being laid to rest in the picturesque family plot in South Carolina but two years ago she changed her mind. I first thought she was confused and had just checked the “organ donor” box on her drivers license form. But no, she had indeed gifted her whole body as a donation. My brother has one of the donor cards in his wallet so he can call when she passes on. I felt a bit uncomfortable about this when she told me because we won’t get see her. They take her immediately. She’ll be used probably for medical research and possibly for organ donation as well. They will return her remains to us when they are finished if we ask, but Mother told us to “move on”. She told us to have a lovely memorial service at the church for her and forget her physical remains. If you’re interested in this option as a final resting place, have a look at ScienceCare . They serve as a link between donors and various medical research facilities. They provide the following service at no cost to you; A donor id card, the transportation costs from your location at death to their facility, death certificate filing, a summary of your use to survivors, and they will send the cremated remains back to the survivors (survivors pay transport costs) if available. ScienceCare was the first accredited facility worldwide. But there are other facilities in the US as well. Virginia State has an Anatomical Program and the University of Florida has a list of body donation programs by state on their website; http://www.med.ufl.edu/anatbd/usprograms.html
This is a highly individual decision but incredibly worthwhile.
My mother has donated her body to science. She’s 82 and had always planned on being laid to rest in the picturesque family plot in South Carolina but two years ago she changed her mind. I first thought she was confused and had just checked the “organ donor” box on her drivers license form. But no, she had indeed gifted her whole body as a donation. My brother has one of the donor cards in his wallet so he can call when she passes on. I felt a bit uncomfortable about this when she told me because we won’t get see her. They take her immediately. She’ll be used probably for medical research and possibly for organ donation as well. They will return her remains to us when they are finished if we ask, but Mother told us to “move on”. She told us to have a lovely memorial service at the church for her and forget her physical remains. If you’re interested in this option as a final resting place, have a look at ScienceCare . They serve as a link between donors and various medical research facilities. They provide the following service at no cost to you; A donor id card, the transportation costs from your location at death to their facility, death certificate filing, a summary of your use to survivors, and they will send the cremated remains back to the survivors (survivors pay transport costs) if available. ScienceCare was the first accredited facility worldwide. But there are other facilities in the US as well. Virginia State has an Anatomical Program and the University of Florida has a list of body donation programs by state on their website; 
