Body Bequeathal: Donors

We appreciate your interest in the possibility of bequeathing your body to the University of Kentucky Body Bequeathal Program. It is through the generosity of individuals like yourself that allow us to ensure important contributions to human welfare continue. Without these donations to the Program, the study and research of human anatomy, and surgical/clinical advances would not be possible.

Donor Instructions

1. Two copies of the bequeathal form and one copy of the vital statistic form can be downloaded and printed from this web site. You may also request these forms by mail, e-mail, or telephone. The bequeathal forms should be signed in the presence of two witnesses. Properly completed bequeathal forms have legal status, a formal last will and testament is not required. Relatives of the donor or anyone eighteen years of age may be witnesses to this document.
2. One original bequeathal form and the vital statistic form should be forwarded to: Gary W. Ginn, Coordinator, University of Kentucky Body Bequeathal Program, MN 223 Medical Center, Lexington, KY 40536-0298. The other copy of the bequeathal form should be retained by the donor and placed in his or her personal file.
3. Copies of the bequeathal forms should be given to donor's surviving relatives, close friends, or whoever will be in charge of final arrangements. This will assure those concerned will know of the donor's wishes and will be in a better position to fulfill his or her wishes. Some donors have made their family physician and local funeral director aware by also providing them with a copy of their bequeathal form.

The UK Body Bequeathal Program is a total body donation program. The Program will provide body bequeathal information and forms to any individual who is a resident of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is of sound mind, eighteen years of age, and desires to give his or her body to the University of Kentucky Body Bequeathal Program upon death. If an individual is unable, or should fail to complete bequeathal forms prior to his/her death, the next-of-kin may donate their loved one's body by completing and signing the body donation forms supplied by the Program at the time of death. Donors should be aware that while the bequeathal mechanism has the potential of making their body available as a gift to the University of Kentucky Body Bequeathal Program at the time of death, it does not constitute an absolute guarantee that the Program will be able to accept the gift. Presently, the Program must reserve the right to decline, or refuse, individuals for the following reasons:

Individuals who:

• have infections or contagious diseases
• have had major recent surgery
• are extremely obese
• die of trauma
• have been partially or completely autopsied
• have been organ donors (the only exception being those who have willed their corneas to the University of Kentucky Lions Eye Bank)
• die outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky
• die west of Louisville and whose family refuse to pay transportation charges from the place of death to the University of Kentucky
• have a family member who objects to the bequeathal of their body to the Program
  

It is very important to note that while you may have registered as a donor to our Program, that we may have to refuse or decline acceptance of your body based on any of the previously stated reasons that may have occurred subsequent to your registration in the Program. If the Program declines or refuses the bequeathal or donation of an individual, it then becomes the family's obligation to make final arrangements. Individuals who are considering body bequeathal may wish to make funeral pre-arrangements with their local funeral director in the event the University of Kentucky is not able to accept the body.

If the University of Kentucky accepts the bequeathal or donation of an individual's body by a family member, the Program will arrange for transportation of the body from the place of death to the University at the Program's expense. This pertains only to individuals who die in the central and eastern portions of Kentucky. If death occurs west of Louisville, the Program will coordinate transportation of the individual from the place of death to the University at the expense of the family or the deceased's estate.

The bodies of donors will be embalmed and utilized in educational and scientific studies in the order in which they are received. It may be a period of several years before these studies are completed. Viewing of the individual is not possible at the University of Kentucky. Each year an Interfaith Memorial Service is held in the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Medical Center to publicly recognize a group of donors currently being studied. Faculty, staff and students attend and participate in this service to publicly express their appreciation to the donors and their families. Family members will be invited to attend this service if they choose to be notified.

Donors and their families may derive comfort from the knowledge that dignity and respect for those who have donated their bodies is maintained at all times. The indispensable contribution that participants in the Program have made is fully recognized. The laboratory is restricted and only medical, dental, or health sciences students, faculty, staff, or students of health-related professions are authorized to use the facility.

It is the policy of the University of Kentucky Body Bequeathal Program that all donors be cremated after studies have been completed. The Program will follow the instructions of the individual's bequeathal form and will:

• Bury the ashes in the University of Kentucky burial grounds, located in The Lexington Cemetery, 833 West Main Street, Lexington, KY.
  (The Program assumes the responsibility for burial of the donor's ashes in the University of Kentucky burial grounds only. Family will be notified when the ashes have been interred.  While the University of Kentucky does not place a headstone or marker to identify each grave, families may choose to purchase a headstone/marker for their loved one. Families of veterans may apply for a veterans headstone to identify their loved one's grave. The University of Kentucky will not assume the cost for placement of the headstone or marker.)
• Send the donor's ashes to a designated person or place within the United States indicated on the bequeathal or donation form. (These arrangements may be changed only by the next-of-kin. It is essential for the next-of-kin to maintain current addresses with the University of Kentucky.)

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