The Willed Body Program does not charge a fee for its services if accepted into the program. However, the donor’s family or legal representative may be responsible for certain costs including:

• Transportation charges from the place of death if located outside of Fayette County. Transportation arrangements can be made with the local funeral home or with the Willed Body Program’s contracted mortuary service, Kentucky Mortuary Services, (859) 278-8501. The family should contact Kentucky Mortuary Services either way as soon as possible to coordinate transportation as this is where the body will go immediately after death.
• Costs of making alternate arrangements for final disposition if the donation cannot be completed for any reason.
• Grave markers are not included with University burials. Any grave marker or headstone placement will be the responsibility of the family and coordinated with Lexington Cemetery.

No. The state anatomical law requires that the donation be a gift without compensation.

No. The University of Kentucky Willed Body Program is a whole-body donation program. We cannot accept individual body parts.

Yes. The Willed Body Program only accepts donors 18 years of age or older. There is no upper age limit to donate.

No. A licensed funeral director must arrange for delivery of the donor’s body to ensure protection of public health and compliance with all related laws and policies. All donors must be delivered to our contracted mortuary service, Kentucky Mortuary Services prior to being delivered to the University.

Yes. If a person passes without donating their body, someone with authority under the law may donate the decedent to the University of Kentucky Willed Body Program by completing the proper donation forms. The legal representative, or closest next of kin must contact the Willed Body Program directly as soon as possible to notify us of the intent to donate and to receive the proper forms needed to expedite the donation. These forms may be different than the forms needed prior to death where the donor is the person actually donating their body.

Because of transportation costs and other factors, we recommend that a donor’s body be donated to a recipient in the state where death occurs. If the donor is already registered within the program and dies out of state, immediately contact Kentucky Mortuary Services to determine if the donation is still possible. This would be on a case-by-case basis based on many factors and is not a guaranteed acceptance.

Yes. There are certain conditions that would disqualify the acceptance of a donation:

• Infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis, MRSA, VRE, flesh-eating disease, West Nile virus, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Other contagious diseases based on the opinion of the Willed Body Program physician consultant
• Obesity (greater than 250 Pounds) or extreme emaciation (a BMI greater than 30 or less than 16 are limiting factors)
• Suffered a violent death, victim of suicide, or homicide
• An autopsy has occurred
• Amputations, open wounds, or incisions
• Any stage IV decubitus (bed sores)
• Presence of gangrene
• Vital organs removed for transplantation purposes (other than corneas)
• Recent treatment with therapeutic radionuclides
• Constraint in any non-prone position
• Any conditions that would impede proper embalming
• Any other restrictions as outlined in the Willed Body Program Physical Assessment form

Yes. Major and/or minor surgeries are acceptable if the surgery has had time to heal.

If an anatomical donation is not accepted for any reason, the donor’s legal representative is responsible for making alternate arrangements at the expense of the donor’s estate. It is recommended to have an alternate arrangement in place in case the donation is unable to be accepted.

Possibly. The Willed Body Program may, in its sole discretion, allow a donor’s body to be utilized by another institution or entity as permitted by law for education or research. In these cases, the donor’s body will then be returned to the program for final disposition after the educational or research use is complete. 

No. The Program does not conduct autopsies.

Not necessarily. Any use for research is determined by the Program based on researcher requests pending at the time of the donor’s death.

No, unfortunately, this cannot be arranged.

Studies may last several months up to several years. It is not possible to predict what study or research the donor's body will be involved in and the amount of time for each study.

Yes. It is the strict policy to cremate all donors after their time in study has been completed.

The Willed Body Program will follow the instructions of the donor or family as indicated in the donation package. There is no cost to the family for the final disposition if it is handled by the program. The following options are available for the final disposition of the ashes: