How to Donate Your Body to a Body Farm: Eligibility and Steps

To donate your body to a body farm, contact a forensic anthropology research facility directly, complete their donor packet while you’re still alive, and tell your family in clear terms what you’ve arranged. About a dozen of these facilities operate in the United States, all attached to universities, and each runs its own program with its own forms, eligibility rules, and pickup range. The steps are straightforward, but acceptance is never guaranteed until after death, so planning ahead and having a backup arrangement both matter.

Pick a Facility Near You

Geography drives almost every practical part of this decision, from paperwork to cost. Since the University of Tennessee opened the first facility in 1981, the field has grown to roughly twelve programs as of 2025. The established ones include:

University of Tennessee, Knoxville — the Forensic Anthropology Center (FAC), the original and largest donor program
Texas State University, San Marcos — the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS)
Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC — the Forensic Osteology Research Station (FOREST)
Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX — the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility (STAFS)
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO — the Forensic Investigation Research Station (FIRS)
University of South Florida, Tampa

Newer programs have opened at other universities as well. Because policies differ from one facility to another, work with the program closest to you and use their rules, not another facility’s, as your guide.

Check Whether You’d Be Eligible

Every facility reserves the right to decline any donation, and certain conditions rule donors out almost universally. Infectious disease is the biggest one. The University of Tennessee will not accept donors who had HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis A, B, or C, tuberculosis, or antibiotic-resistant infections like MRSA at the time of death, with one exception: a donor who completed Hepatitis C treatment and can show lab results with a negative viral load.¹ Sepsis and bacterial infections like E. coli are also common grounds for rejection.

Body size matters more than most people expect. Weight limits at U.S. programs range from roughly 160 to 400 pounds, with many clustering around 300, and severely underweight donors are also excluded. If weight might be an issue, ask the facility directly and early.

A few other factors can disqualify a donation:

Embalming. Most facilities will not accept embalmed bodies, because the chemicals alter decomposition. The University of Tennessee explicitly prohibits it.²
Autopsy or severe trauma, depending on current research needs.
Advanced decomposition if too much time passes between death and transport.
COVID-19. Some facilities require a postmortem test before accepting a donation.¹

A cancer diagnosis does not automatically disqualify you, and neither does having received chemotherapy. Donors must be at least 18.

Pre-Register While You’re Alive

Pre-registration is the single most important step. Contact the facility and request a donation packet, which most programs will mail or email. At the University of Tennessee, the packet includes a body donation document, five pages of research consent forms, an eight-page medical and personal history questionnaire, and a recent photograph.² Other facilities use similar but not identical paperwork. Western Carolina, for example, uses a separate legally binding bequeathal contract executed in triplicate.

The personal information section collects everything a funeral director would need to file a death certificate, including your Social Security number, your parents’ names and birthplaces, and your occupation.² Fill everything out. Incomplete packets create delays at the worst possible moment.

After submitting your forms, some programs mail you a donor card with an emergency number for the facility. Keep it somewhere your family will find it. Make sure at least two people close to you know about the arrangement. Even with pre-registration, acceptance is not confirmed until after death, because the facility must weigh your condition and its current research needs at that time.² Every program advises donors to keep a backup arrangement, like cremation or burial, in reserve.

Make Sure Your Family Will Honor Your Wishes

Under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, adopted in some form by all 50 states, a written anatomical gift you make during your lifetime is irrevocable after death. Your next of kin cannot legally override it, and the gift does not require anyone else’s consent.³

In practice, most body farm programs will not fight a grieving family. If relatives show up and object strongly, many facilities will quietly decline the donation rather than force the issue. The University of Tennessee accepts next-of-kin donations case by case but still recommends pre-registration for anyone who has decided to donate.² Your paperwork provides legal cover; a real conversation with your family provides everything else. Have both.

If you die without pre-registering, your family can still approach a facility about an at-need donation. Acceptance depends on what the program needs at that moment.

You Can Still Be an Organ Donor

Donating to a body farm does not force you to give up organ donation. You can have transplantable organs and tissues recovered first and still donate what remains. The University of Tennessee’s program allows this, with one condition: skeletal tissue (bone) cannot be donated elsewhere, since the skeleton is central to the research.⁴ Cornea, skin, heart valve, and tendon donations are generally compatible.

Register as an organ donor through your state registry, and note your organ donor status on the body farm paperwork so the facility can coordinate.

What Your Family Will Do When You Die

At the time of death, someone close to you needs to call the facility promptly using the number on your donor card. At Sam Houston State, staff confirm that donation paperwork is on file, gather updated medical information, and check whether the body fits a current research project before accepting or declining.⁵ Other programs follow a similar confirmation.

The body generally needs to reach the facility within 24 to 48 hours of death, though refrigeration can extend that window. Texas State requires that donations be kept refrigerated until transport is finalized, with those costs paid by the family.⁶ Do not have the body embalmed.

Facilities cannot pick up bodies from private homes. Transport must originate from a hospital, morgue, medical examiner’s office, or funeral home.⁵ If death is likely to happen at home or in hospice, identify a funeral home in advance to receive the body and hand it off to the facility.

Costs and Transportation

Most programs don’t charge for the donation itself. Transport is where cost varies. Many facilities offer free pickup within a limited radius. Texas State picks up remains within 100 miles of San Marcos at no charge; beyond that, arrangements and costs fall to the family.⁶

Long-distance mortuary transport is expensive. Funeral homes generally charge a per-mile fee, and the total climbs quickly across state lines. Some facilities, including the University of Tennessee’s FAC, will file a death certificate for donors they transport, which saves the family a step.² Certified copies of a death certificate, which the family will need for insurance, banking, and estate matters regardless, generally cost between $5 and $34 depending on the state.

Think about geography early. A program 50 miles away with a 100-mile free pickup zone is a fundamentally different proposition from one 500 miles away.

Your Remains Stay With the Facility

Most forensic anthropology facilities do not return remains, and this catches families off guard. At the University of Tennessee, after soft tissue has decomposed, the skeleton is cleaned, labeled with the donor’s unique identification number, and permanently curated into the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection.⁴ Texas State does the same, adding skeletons to the Texas State Donated Skeletal Collection for ongoing teaching and research.⁷ These collections are used indefinitely, including by visiting scholars from other institutions.

This is a real difference from donating your body to a medical school, where the body is typically embalmed, used for anatomy instruction, and then cremated, with the option of returning ashes to the family.⁴ Body farms don’t offer that. If a memorial with returned remains matters to you or your family, a body farm donation isn’t compatible with that plan. Make sure everyone involved understands this before signing anything.

A Working Checklist

Find the program closest to you and check whether your address falls within their free transport radius.
Call or email the facility and request a donation packet.
Complete every form thoroughly, including consent documents, medical history, personal information for the death certificate, and a recent photo if requested.
Talk to your family. Explain what you’ve chosen, what will happen at death, and that remains will not come back. Their cooperation in the moment matters more than any form.
Register separately as an organ donor through your state registry if you want both, and note it on your body farm paperwork.
Identify a funeral home in advance if death might occur at home or in hospice, since facilities cannot pick up from a private residence.
Keep a backup plan such as cremation or burial in case the donation is declined.
Store your donor card and the facility’s phone number where your family can find them within hours, not days.

1
Forensic Anthropology Center. Body Donation
2
University of Tennessee. Body Donation Packet
3
HRSA. Appendix 6
4
Forensic Anthropology Center. Body Donation Frequently Asked Questions
5
STAFS Home. Living Donor Donation Process
6
Texas State University. Whole Body Donations
7
MDPI. The Texas State Donated Skeletal Collection at the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State