No-Cost Cremation in Georgia Through Body Donation: What Atlanta Families Should Know
If you live in Georgia and you are thinking about what to do when the time comes, or you are sitting with the news that a loved one has passed, this page is for you. The Genesis Whole Body Donation Program at MERI accepts donors from Georgia, covers transportation to Memphis, files the death certificate, performs the cremation, and returns the cremated remains. Your family pays nothing.
No-Cost Cremation at No Cost to Your Family
Cremation
No-cost cremation in Georgia through the Genesis program covers transportation from Georgia to MERI’s Memphis facility, the cremation itself, and the filing of the death certificate. Your family is never billed.
A Gift That Advances Medicine
Whole body donation through Genesis supports hands-on surgical training and medical research at MERI’s Memphis facility. Device companies, surgical societies, and partner organizations bring the curriculum and the faculty. Your loved one’s gift makes that training possible. Families receive a detailed letter describing how the gift was used.
Cremated Remains Returned, or Interred in Memphis
Cremated remains are returned to the family the donor designates, or interred in a mausoleum in the Memphis area, whichever the family chooses. The choice is yours, and you can make it at any point before remains are returned.
Treated With Dignity, Start to Finish
Every donor at MERI is treated as a living patient for every procedure performed. MERI is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks and licensed by the New York State Department of Health.
No-Cost Cremation
Acceptance into the Genesis whole body donation program is contingent on each donor’s medical suitability at the time of death. MERI’s board, staff, and the partner organizations whose training and research the program supports are grateful to every person who plans ahead and hopes to become an anatomic donor. There is no rush to decide, and there is no penalty for changing your mind.
MERI limits its acceptance to donors who, at the time of death, are free of infectious diseases that could harm the learner. The donor’s physical condition also needs to be suitable to support a safe, high-quality learning experience. These are the same conditions every accredited program in this work has to meet.
Georgia is one of the nineteen states the Genesis program serves. The others are Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia. If you are a Georgia resident and you pass in Georgia or in one of those states, you are within the service area. If a registered donor moves out of those states before death, the program cannot accept the donation. If that happens, call us anyway. We can help you think through what to do next.
Cremation at No Cost to Your Family
The Genesis Donation Process
You can pre-register for the body donation program by completing the donor forms linked above. If you have not pre-registered, a legal authorizing party (typically next of kin) can arrange the donation at the time of death using the Third Party Authorization form in the donor packet.
Frequently Asked Questions About
Body Donation in Georgia
No-cost cremation in Georgia through the Genesis Whole Body Donation Program at MERI means your family pays nothing. The program covers transportation from Georgia to MERI’s Memphis facility, the filing of the death certificate, approximately six to twelve months of supporting hands-on surgical training and research at MERI, the cremation, and the return of cremated remains to the family member the donor designated. Families also receive a detailed letter describing the training and research programs the donor’s gift contributed to.
Yes. There is no fee at any stage. Transportation from Georgia to Memphis, the cremation, the death certificate filing, and the return of cremated remains are all included at no charge to the family. Families do not receive a bill, and there is no balance owed at any point.
No. There is no waiting period after registration. A pre-registered donor is enrolled immediately. A legal authorizing party can also arrange the donation at the time of death using the Third Party Authorization form in the donor packet.
The Genesis program serves the entire state of Georgia. Whether you live in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Athens, or a rural county, you are within the service area as long as the donor is a Georgia resident and dies in Georgia or in one of the eighteen other states Genesis covers.
