Whole Body Donation in Florida: No-Cost Cremation & Medical Impact Through MERI
Whole body donation via our Genesis Program comes at no cost to your family and leaves something lasting behind. We cover every expense, including transport, paperwork, and cremation, while your gift helps develop life-saving skills at our Memphis facility.
Why Choose Our Florida Whole Body Donation Program
Legacy
Your gift allows physicians, surgeons, nurses, and EMTs from all over the country to practice life-saving techniques at our facilities. Everything they learn will help them provide better healthcare for their future patients who depend on them daily.
Financial
Funerals and cremations in Florida are expensive and often happen at the worst time possible. MERI’s Genesis program covers all of those expenses for your family. Transportation, paperwork, and cremation included. Not a single expense will fall to your family.
Environmental Responsibility
Traditional burials carry a noticeable environmental footprint. A whole body donation followed by a cremation is far cleaner and more sustainable while leaving a legacy through medical education.
Peace of Mind
Every donor is treated as a living patient during their time at MERI. We treat them with care, dignity, and respect. MERI holds AATB accreditation and is licensed by the New York State Department of Health. Your family can rest assured that their loved one is being treated well every step of the way.
How to Donate Your Body to Science in Florida With MERI
Registering for a whole body donation in Florida isn’t as complicated as it might seem. You can register at any time during your lifetime, or a legal authorizing party can arrange everything at the time of death using the Third-Party Authorization form.
Download and complete the forms
Get started by downloading the Genesis Donor Forms. You can complete them online and print them, or print first and complete by hand. The forms must be signed by two witnesses before mailing. Acrobat reader required to review the form online.
Inform your family or legal authorizing party
Share your wishes with your family or a trusting legal authorizing party so they know to call Genesis at the time of death. Our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Genesis provides transportation from Florida
Once we’re notified, Genesis arranges everything, from transportation to paperwork, including a Florida death certificate.
Donor participates in medical education and research
All donors spend between 6 and 12 months at our facilities, supporting hands-on medical training and giving healthcare professionals the real-world experience they need to make them better at saving lives
The Medical Research Impact of Body Donation
The Medical Education and Research Institute (MERI) is a nonprofit facility founded in 1994 and based in Memphis, Tennessee. Our Florida donors and communities across the state help make critical hands-on training possible for physicians, surgeons, nurses, EMTS, and healthcare professionals who travel to our facilities from all over the world.
These professionals travel to MERI to learn and gain invaluable experience in the latest medical techniques. From minimally invasive surgery to orthopedic procedures, to emergency response, to even new medical device applications. Then they go back to their communities with these new skills that directly improve their patients’ outcomes.
Florida Donor Requirements
Most adults 18 and older qualify for whole body donation in Florida. The majority of medical conditions, prior surgeries, and health histories do not affect eligibility. Acceptance is handled at the time of death based on medical suitability. Pre-registering right now is a good choice if you have questions you want to ask about your unique situation.
Certain conditions will affect acceptance. Active infectious diseases and physical conditions that cannot support a safe learning environment can’t be accepted. BMI is occasionally a consideration. All of these situations will be assessed individually, and the Genesis team is always available if any doubts or concerns arise before you commit.
Florida is fully within the Genesis service area. Donors from anywhere in the state qualify for whole body donations.
How to Register for Whole Body Donation in Florida
You may pre-sign into the body donation program by filling out the donor forms now, or at the time of death, by a legal authorizing party that uses the Third Party Authorization form in the donor packet linked above.
Download the Genesis Donor Forms. (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to open the donor forms. Download the donor forms here.)
Complete the forms and then print, OR print first and complete nearly by hand
The completed forms must be hand-signed by the donor and two (2) witnesses before submission.
Send your completed and signed donor forms to the Genesis program address. Forms can also be mailed to you.
Genesis Whole Body Donation Program
Medical Education & Research Institute
44 South Cleveland
Memphis, TN 38104
Donor paperwork can also be sent through fax – (901) 722-9392
No-Cost Cremation
Our Genesis Program offers no-cost cremation for eligible donors and their families. Cremation is fully covered with zero fees at any stage. Cremated remains are returned to a designated loved one or interred in a Memphis-area mausoleum according to the donor’s wishes.
The Genesis Program is currently available to donors in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.
Learn More About Whole Body Donation Option
The Genesis Donation Process
Pre-register online at any time, or arrange through a legal authorizing party at the time of death, with no advance notice required. From the moment Genesis is notified, everything is managed at no cost to your family. This includes transportation, paperwork, and cremation.
Frequently Asked Questions About
Whole Body Donation in Florida
No. The Genesis program covers every cost associated with body donation in Florida. Transportation from anywhere in the state, death certificate filing, and cremation. There are no hidden fees at any stage of this process.
In most cases, yes, you can. Prior surgeries rarely affect eligibility for the Genesis program. Acceptance is always determined at the time of death on overall medical suitability, not due to surgical history alone. If you have questions about a specific surgery or medical history, you can call the Genesis team directly.
Once the donor’s time in MERI is complete, a no-cost cremation is arranged by the institute. The cremated remains are then returned to the designated family member or interred locally in Memphis, all according to the donor’s wishes.
The legal authorizing party is informed throughout the process. They receive a copy of the death certificate within 6 weeks. When the donation process is complete, the family is notified and receives a letter detailing the research and education the donor’s gift supported.
Genesis accepts whole body donors from across Florida — including Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, Hialeah, Tallahassee, Port St. Lucie, and Cape Coral. The program serves donors throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange, Duval, Pinellas, Lee, Polk, and Brevard counties. All of Florida qualifies as part of the Genesis 19-state service area.
