Body donation to science: How to proceed in France?
Each individual has the right to dispose of their body as they see fit and can therefore donate all or part (organs and/or tissues) of their body if they express the desire to do so. Donating one's body to science involves a commitment on the part of the donor. AdVitam offers a guide to ensure that this commitment is respected.Body donation in France concerns any citizen who is free to make their own decision and who, during their lifetime, wished for their remains to be used for scientific purposes (education or research). That is why it is called "body donation to science." It is also possible to have accepted organ donation, but the research institution reserves the right to refuse the body.
In French law, body donation is an act of donation that can be made by any adult not under guardianship.
The person must make a handwritten, dated, and signed request and can send it to the medical school of their choice. The request must be fully written to prove that the decision was made freely and with full knowledge.
Relatives and family members, therefore, have no legal claim rights to this act (be it to request the body donation or to prevent it).
Once the death has been confirmed by two doctors, a maximum of 48 hours must be observed for the body to be transferred to the processing location. Indeed, apart from the administrative steps for receiving or refusing the body, the General Code of Local Authorities stipulates: Transport operations are completed within a maximum of forty-eight hours from the time of death.
The institution bears the cost of burial or cremation of the body, but may request your contribution.
Body donation is necessarily intended for hospitalization, teaching, or research institutions with a body donation service. Without this service, a faculty cannot receive a body. Surgery students can improve their techniques, and medical research may carry out various samples and clinical tests. The list of 28 authorized institutions:
Contact details of the body donation institutions:
AMIENS
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
3, rue des Louvels 80000 Amiens
tél. +33 3 22 91 94 05
ANGERS
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
Rue Haute de Reculée 49000 Angers
tél. +33 2 41 73 58 18
BESANÇON
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
Place Saint Jacques 25000 Besançon
tél. +33 3 81 66 56 19
BORDEAUX
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
146, rue Léo Saignat 33000 Bordeaux
tél. +33 5 57 57 10 10
BREST
Faculté de Médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
22, rue Camille Desmoulins 29279 Brest
tél. +33 2 98 01 64 26
CAEN
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
2 rue des Rochambelles 14032 Caen
tél. +33 2 31 56 82 09
CLERMONT-FERRAND
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
28, place Henri Dunant 63000 Clermont-Ferrand
tél. +33 4 73 17 80 99
DIJON
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
7, boulevard Jeanne d’Arc 21000 Dijon
tél. +33 3 80 39 33 72
GRENOBLE
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
Domaine « Le Merci » 38706 La Tronche
tél. +33 4 76 63 71 49
LILLE
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
1, place de Verdun 59045 Lille
tél. +33 3 20 62 69 41
LIMOGES
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie C.R.E.A.L
2, rue du Docteur Marcland 87025 Limoges
tél. +33 5 55 43 58 24
LYON
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
8, rue de Rockefeller 69373 Lyon
tél. +33 4 78 77 75 32 or +33 4 78 77 28 48
MARSEILLE
Service Commun des Corps Donnés à la Science Faculté de Médecine de Marseille
27 Boulevard Jean Moulin 13005 Marseille
tél. +33 4 91 32 44 82
MONTPELLIER
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
Rue de l’Ecole de Médecine 34000 Montpellier
tél. +33 4 34 43 35 72
VANDOEUVRE LES NANCY
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
Route de Maron 54500
Vandoeuvre les Nancy
tél. +33 3 83 44 60 85
NANTES
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
1, rue Gaston Veil 44000 Nantes
tél. +33 2 40 41 28 10
NICE
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
26, avenue Valombrose 06000 Nice
tél. +33 4 93 37 77 77
NÎMES
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
Avenue Kennedy 30000 Nîmes
tél. +33 4 66 02 81 58
PARIS
Ecole de Chirurgie de l’Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris
17, rue du Fer-à-Moulin 75005 Paris
tél. +33 1 46 69 15 20
PARIS
Faculté de médecine, Centre de don des corps
45, rue des Saint-Pères 75006 Paris
tél. +33 1 42 60 82 54
POITIERS
Faculté de Médecine
6, rue de la Milétrie BP 199
86034 Poitiers
tél. +33 5 49 45 43 51
REIMS
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
51, rue Cognacq Jay 51100 Reims
tél. +33 3 26 91 35 44
RENNES
Faculté de médecine, Centre des dons du corps
2, rue du Professeur Léon Bernard 35000 Rennes
tél. +33 2 23 23 49 26
ROUEN
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
22, boulevard Gambetta 76183 Rouen
tél. +33 2 35 14 84 40
SAINT-ETIENNE
Faculté de Médecine Jacques Lisfranc
Laboratoire d’Anatomie
10, chemin de la Marandière 42270 Saint-Priest-en-Jarez
tél. +33 4 77 80 22 56
STRASBOURG
Faculté de médecine, Centre de don des corps. Institut d’anatomie
4, rue Kirschleger 67085 Strasbourg
tél. +33 3 68 85 39 30
TOULOUSE
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie
133, route de Narbonne 31000 Toulouse
tél. +33 5 61 55 03 68
TOURS
Faculté de médecine, Laboratoire d’anatomie. Asso. des dons du corps du centre ouest
10, boulevard Tonnellé 37032 Tours
tél. +33 2 47 36 60 40 or +33 2 47 36 60 39
Donate one's body to science: the necessary steps
To donate one's body to science, one must have a card that the institution provides only after receiving an explicit and handwritten request.
- Informing one's family
Informing one's family and close friends is a crucial step. Often, when a funeral contract is planned, all eventualities have been considered with the support of a professional. It's important to take the time to discuss this decision with your loved ones, as it significantly affects their grieving process. It's also wise to plan an alternative to body donation, as centers may refuse the donation (see below).
- Contact the institution
The donor must then get in touch with the institution designated by the geographical area to which their residence is attached. (See the list of institutions above)
- The costs
The faculty will ask for proof of payment, as it will cover the cremation or burial expenses. The transportation costs are most often borne by the relatives, unless the deceased had arranged a funeral contract. These costs range from 400 to 700 euros in Île-de-France, depending on the distance between the place of death and the body reception center.
- Donor card
Receipt of the payment proof and the donor card to be kept on oneself at all times. Without this original document, no transportation to the institution will be possible.
Cases of Refusal of Body Donation
In some cases, body donation can no longer take place:
If the body does not have a donation card
If more than 48 hours have passed since death
If the mayor refuses transportation before the body is placed in a coffin / If a forensic intervention is considered (doubts about the death, often in cases of crime or suicide)
Death abroad (transferring the body and placing it in a coffin thus exceeds the 48 hours)
In case of death following one of the contagious diseases requiring immediate placement in a coffin
Cases of refusal of body donation on the part of the receiving institution occur when:
The institution was not notified in time
The body has been subject to recent operations (autopsy, surgeries, etc.)
The staff responsible for handling the body is unavailable (public holiday, outside working days, leave...)
If the body is not accepted, some institutions provide for the reimbursement of advanced sums. Inquire about these formalities, as the possibility that your body may be refused always exists (deaths requiring expertise, transmissible diseases, body transfer time...).
Moreover, certain beliefs are very clear on the matter of body donation: Islam, Judaism, and some African traditions do not allow the body to be desecrated.
And After? What Happens to the Body at the End of Scientific Research?
After several months, once research or teaching work has been carried out, the treatment of the body remains the responsibility of the institutions. They cover the costs of cremation or burial to dispose of the mortal remains definitively. Anonymously. Some institutions have provided a place in a cemetery where a memorial pays tribute to those who have donated their bodies to science. Relatives will be informed of the body's treatment only after cremation.
Otherwise, the mortal or cremated remains can be returned to relatives upon request. In these cases, it is possible that, despite the use of the corpse, funerals had been planned if the deceased was foresighted. Without cremation, the ceremony thus takes place without the presentation of the body since the body is highly altered by research.
In the Case of the Paris School of Surgery (AP-HP):
"Unless the donor has expressed otherwise, the body is cremated anonymously, the ashes are scattered in division 102 of the Thiais Parisian cemetery. A stele in memory of the donors has been erected to allow relatives to gather."
In France, about 2,500 body donations to science every year help advance medical research.
For more details on the laws and the nature of the procedures, you can consult the Afif website.
Conclusion
Donating one's organs or body is a question that must be raised during one's lifetime. Unfortunately, the subject of donating all or part of oneself often divides families. Mourning is all the more difficult to bear when the body of a loved one is the subject of divergent opinions.
This is why it is advisable to prepare for one's death as best as possible. It is possible to express one's different perspectives, especially in a legislative framework for more respect and guarantee of application. Numerous precautionary measures are available and legislated: