Many people are drawn to the idea of being a whole-body donor by their desire to contribute to the medical community, especially to causes or institutions that hold special importance to them. Maybe they’re hoping their donation will help find a cure for the Huntington’s Disease that runs in their family, or perhaps they want to donate to their alma mater’s medical school. Since being a whole-body donor is a decision that’s sometimes influenced by personal experience, we are often asked if our donors can specify which research or educational program their donation in placed with.

MedCure works with a large network of medical researchers and educators, each of which has varying needs at different points in time. Because of this, and our goal to try to ensure that every donor’s gift be utilized in a timely manner, placement relies heavily on what the needs of researchers and educators are at the time of a donor’s passing. So, unfortunately, we aren’t able to guarantee that a donor will be placed with a specific research program or educational institution.

However, we do take a donor’s medical history into consideration when determining placement within the medical community. Researchers and educators sometimes need donors with certain diseases and conditions, and we take these needs into consideration when matching donors to these programs. But, it important to note that these research and education programs still have additional criteria that a donor needs to meet beyond a specific diagnosis, so placement still cannot be guaranteed.