Whole Body Donation in Ohio: How the Genesis Program Serves Ohio Families
Ohioans can donate a body to science through the Genesis Whole Body Donation Program at MERI. Genesis serves families across the state, from Columbus and Cleveland to Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron and Dayton. Ohio is one of the 19 states Genesis serves. You can plan to donate your own body, or honor a loved one’s wish, at no cost to your family. Transportation, the death certificate, and cremation are all covered. Your gift then helps train the next generation of physicians, and your family is spared the expense.
What the Genesis Program Covers for Ohio Families
Legacy
Your gift helps train physicians, surgeons, and other medical professionals through the Genesis Whole Body Donation Program, a program of MERI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. A doctor caring for a patient years from now may be better at it because of what your loved one made possible.
Financial
There is no cost to your family at any stage. Genesis covers transportation from the place of passing, the filing of the death certificate, and cremation. That removes one of the largest expenses a family faces after a death.
Environmental Responsibility
Whole body donation ends in cremation rather than burial. There is no embalming and no burial plot. For families already leaning toward cremation, it is a lighter footprint and a meaningful use of the gift.
Peace of Mind
MERI is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks and licensed by the New York State Department of Health. Every donor is treated as a living patient, with the highest respect, gratitude, and care.
How to Donate Your Body to Science in Ohio
You can pre-register now for yourself, or a legal authorizing party can begin the process at the time of a loved one’s passing. Here is how whole body donation in Ohio works, start to finish.
Complete and sign the Genesis donor registration forms. You can register for yourself, or sign as the legal authorizing party for a loved one.
At the time of passing, your family calls Genesis. A real person answers and walks you through the next steps.
Genesis arranges transportation of the donor to MERI in Memphis, at no cost to the family, and files the death certificate.
Your loved one is cared for at MERI for approximately 6 to 12 months, where their gift supports hands-on medical training.
Cremated remains are returned to your family, or interred in a mausoleum in the Memphis area, according to your wishes.
How Ohio Donors Support Medical Training
MERI is a nonprofit bioskills facility in the heart of the Memphis Medical District, with six bioskills labs. MERI does not teach the courses itself. It provides the facility, the donated tissue, and the equipment that medical device companies, surgical societies, and health systems use to deliver hands-on training. Physicians, surgeons, nurses, and paramedics from across the country come to MERI to learn new procedures on donated tissue instead of on a living patient. That is what your loved one’s gift makes possible. You can read more about MERI’s bioskills labs and medical education programs, or what whole body donation involves.
Who Qualifies for Body Donation in Ohio
Most adults can become donors. You must be at least 18, and there is no upper age limit. Acceptance is decided at the time of passing and depends on each donor’s medical suitability, so pre-registering improves the odds but cannot guarantee acceptance.
A donor must be free of infectious diseases that could harm the learner, and the donor’s physical condition must be suitable for a safe, high-quality learning experience. It is worth reviewing the general eligibility rules for body donation before you register.
Genesis currently serves families across Ohio and 18 other states. In Ohio, anatomical gifts follow Ohio’s anatomical gift law and the Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2108. Any adult of sound mind can donate for medical education and research.
How to Register for Whole Body Donation in Ohio
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 in Ohio
The Genesis Donation Process, Step by Step
Whether you pre-register or a legal authorizing party begins at the time of passing, the process is the same from there.
Frequently Asked Questions About
Whole Body Donation in Ohio
Yes. Genesis covers transportation, the death certificate, and cremation at no cost to your family. There are no fees at any stage.
After your family calls, Genesis arranges and pays for the transportation of the donor from the place of passing to MERI in Memphis. Your family does not coordinate it or pay for it.
A donor is typically with MERI for about 6 to 12 months. After that, cremated remains are returned to your family, or interred in a mausoleum in the Memphis area, according to your wishes. Here is more on what happens after donation.
Acceptance is decided at the time of passing and depends on medical suitability, so it cannot be promised in advance. It is wise to keep a backup plan for cremation or burial in case the gift cannot be accepted.
Yes. Whole body donation does not prevent a memorial. Because the donor is not embalmed, a traditional viewing is not part of the process, so families usually gather to remember their loved one on their own timing.
