What Is Organ, Tissue, & Whole-Body Donation?

July 9th, 2025

Written by: Kathleen Clohessey, RN
End-Of-Life Content Writer

a child holds a heart shaped stone showing organ tissue and whole body donation

Organ, tissue and whole body donation are three ways in which an individual can gift their body, in whole or in part, to others after (and sometimes before) death. When you donate organs or tissue, your gift will be used to save lives and alleviate the suffering of other individuals whose organs have failed or who require life-enhancing tissue transplants. When you donate your whole body, you may give it to a medical school for education and research or to an organization that supplies bodies to facilities that conduct scientific research. The requirements and process for each type of donation are quite different, so it’s important to understand how each one works.

Jump ahead to:

Deceased Organ Donation Explained

Organ donation is a process whereby an individual donates one or more organs to others whose organs have failed. The vast majority of donated organs come from deceased individuals. The most commonly transplanted organs are:

Liver
Heart
Lung
Pancreas
Kidney/pancreas
Intestine
Heart/lung
Vascularized allograft transplants (VCA) – such as transplants of hands or a face.

Because organs require a steady supply of oxygen to remain viable, a deceased donor must be maintained on ventilator support until the time their organs are recovered (removed from the body). For this reason, organ donation is the rarest of all anatomical gifts. According to Organ Donor.gov, only three out of every 1,000 people die in a way that allows them to donate organs after death.

Organ donation is typically initiated by hospital staff after a person has been declared brain dead or is determined to have sustained irreversible brain damage and is unable to sustain vital functions without the aid of life-sustaining care. Importantly, all patients receive the same level of care whether they are registered organ donors or not. Once doctors determine brain death or, in some cases, circulatory death, hospital staff contacts the local Organ Procurement Organization, a non-profit that is responsible for coordinating the process from beginning to end. Staff from the OPO first check the donor registry to determine if the person was a registered donor. If they were not, they work directly with the deceased patient’s family to obtain consent. They also organize and facilitate any medically necessary testing, recovery of organs, and their delivery to the transplant hospital(s). If the person is a registered donor, the organ procurement organization shares that decision with the family and presents them with the legal Document of Gift.

As of this writing, a single organ donor can save up to eight lives by donating:

A heart to one individual
Two kidneys to two individuals
Two lobes of the liver to two individuals
Two lungs to two individuals
A pancreas to a single individual

Living Organ Donation Explained

Living organ donation is another option that is available to healthy donors who wish to donate an organ while they are still alive. Living donors may donate one kidney, one lobe of the liver, a uterus, gestational tissue (placenta and amniotic fluid after the birth of a baby) or part of the intestine, pancreas or lung. They may also donate bone marrow. Because of the severe shortage of deceased donors, living donation is becoming more common.Today, about one-third of all kidney transplants performed in the U.S. are from living donors, and that number is increasing steadily thanks to innovative programs that match unrelated donors through a process known as paired donation.

The Organ Donation Process

Whether an organ donor is living or deceased, the process for facilitating and implementing the donation of organs is typically the same (with the exception of directed donation from a living donor). Once the donor is identified and consent obtained, the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) enters information about the donor into a national database. A computer program then selects recipients for eligible organs based on:

Physical characteristics such as size, age, and blood type
Need — patients in urgent need of a transplant receive first priority
Location — patients closest to the center where the organs are located receive priority

Once potential recipients are identified, the OPO in the geographic region where the transplant will take place notifies the transplant center, which then notifies the patient that an organ is available. The doctors at the transplant center will evaluate the recipient to determine if they are well enough to withstand the transplant. If so, the OPO arranges for the organs to be recovered.

The surgery to recover the donor’s organs is performed by a specialized transplant team in the operating room under sterile conditions. If the donor is brain dead, anesthesia is not typically used, although an anesthesiologist will attend the patient throughout the procedure to ensure organ function is preserved. Living organ donors are anesthetized like any other patient undergoing surgery.

After the organs are removed, they are placed in special containers and transported to the hospital(s) where the recipient or recipients are waiting. The transplant surgery usually takes several hours, after which the patient generally recovers for some time in the ICU.

Tissue Donation Explained

In biological terms, tissue is a group of cells having similar structure that function together as a unit. In the human body, there are four kinds of tissue:

Connective tissue, which includes bone, cartilage, fat, blood and lymphatic tissue.
Epithelial tissue, which protects the body’s organs and includes the outer layer of skin, and the lining of the intestine, respiratory tract and abdominal cavity
Muscle tissue, which is divided into three types:
- Cardiac muscle, which forms the walls of the heart
- Skeletal muscle, which is attached to bones and is responsible for movement
- Smooth muscle, which is located in hollow organs, such as the liver, pancreas, stomach and intestines.
Nerve tissue, which makes up the peripheral and central nervous systems, including the spinal cord and the brain.

Many different types of tissue can be used for transplantation, including tendons, ligaments, nerves, bones, heart valves, skin, veins and corneas. And because these tissues don’t rely on a steady supply of oxygenated blood to survive, they can be recovered from the body for a period of up to 24 hours after death.

Further, unlike organs, which must be transplanted within a relatively short time after they are removed (usually 4 to 6 hours for heart or lungs, 12 hours for the liver and up to 36 hours for a kidney) tissue can be recovered and then stored almost indefinitely. For this reason, tissue donation is far more common than organ donation. About 2.5 million tissue transplants from (mostly) deceased donors occur in the U.S. each year. A small number also occur from living donors, particularly skin (such as skin removed in plastic surgery), bone (following joint replacement surgery), bone marrow, umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid. Except in very rare circumstances, corneas can only be donated by people who are dead.

Like organ donation, tissue donation is usually initiated when hospital staff notify the local OPO that someone who may be eligible to donate tissue has died. This notification can also be handled by family members if the person died at home or in a nursing home. The OPO then checks the donor registry to learn if the deceased individual was a registered donor. If they were not, they contact the family and request consent. They also facilitate the removal of donated tissues and their transfer to a facility that will prepare, store and distribute them.

After tissue donation, tissues are processed by a tissue processing organization to ensure viability and the absence of any pathogens. The steps involved include cleaning, cutting, washing the tissues, soaking them in disinfecting solution and antibiotics, culturing and packaging. According to Hartford Healthcare, up to 100 individual tissues can be processed from a single donor. These are then distributed to physicians for transplantation as suitable recipients are identified.

Whole Body Donation Explained

As the term implies, whole body donation involves donating your entire body for medical education or research. Bodies are typically donated for education and research through a whole body donation program at a university. These bodies may be dissected by medical or other health sciences students in the anatomy lab. The school may also support clinical skills training or facilitate medical and scientific research in accordance with the document of gift- the consent and authorization form used for anatomical gifts..

In addition to Whole Body Donation Programs, some organizations procure bodies for medical research and distribute them as needed to facilities in the U.S. and across the globe. Known as non-transplant anatomical donation organizations or NADOs, these private for-profit companies are not highly regulated, although a handful of states have enacted laws pertaining to their operation. This type of organization is different from an OPO, which has additional federal regulations that apply.

Whether you choose to donate your body to a medical school or an NADO, advanced registration is preferred. You can find a list of U.S. medical schools that accept anatomical donations at the website of the American Association for Anatomy. Keep in mind that it’s best to choose one close to your location, since the body must be picked up and transported to the facility soon after death.

If you wish to donate through a NADO, look for a company that is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks, a nonprofit that works to ensure that companies that deal in bodies and body parts engage in standardized business practices and maintain quality controls.

One consideration in whole body donation is that the program or organization that receives your body may provide for a low or no-cost final disposition. This is typically accomplished through cremation or alkaline hydrolysis, with the latter method only being used by 3 to 5 programs currently. In some instances, the family may request that the person’s ashes be returned to them, but this is not always possible. Check with the organization before you register to be sure. Additionally, you should make alternate arrangements for final disposition (such as a low-cost direct cremation) in case the organization cannot accept your body at the time of your death.

Whole Body Donation Exclusions

Regardless of where you choose to donate your body, it’s important to be aware that there are certain conditions that may preclude the institution or organization from accepting it. While it is rare,, the medical school you’ve chosen may have an adequate supply of body donors for the ensuing school term and simply not need your donation at the time you die. In other cases, your physical or medical condition may preclude your acceptance, even if you registered in advance. Some conditions that may bar your acceptance into either type of program include:

An infectious disease (such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B or hepatitis C, or prion diseases)
Extreme obesity or emaciation
Your body has been autopsied or mutilated or is decomposed
Your body was embalmed

Additionally, if the next of kin objects to the donation, the university or organization may opt to reject the donation rather than engage in a dispute.

Conclusion

The decision to donate organs, tissue or your entire body for medical research can have a lasting impact on countless lives. Organ and tissue donation saves and improves the lives of millions of desperate patients every year in ever-expanding ways. Registering as an organ and tissue donor is as simple as declaring your intention on your driver’s license or signing up online, but it is a choice that can leave a legacy for decades to come. Further, when you gift your body for education or research, you are not only helping to advance learning and scientific knowledge but also enhancing the lives of untold people across the globe.

Sources

“How Donation Works”. Health Resources and Services Administration. https://www.organdonor.gov/learn/process

“Organ Donation and Transplantation”. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/11750-organ-donation-and-transplantation

“Types of Donation”. Donor Alliance. https://www.donoralliance.org/understanding-donation/types-of-donation

“I Have A Living Donor Who Doesn’t Match. What Can I Do? OPTN Paired Kidney Donation Pilot Program”. UNOS. https://unos.org/wp-content/uploads/Brochure-108-Kidney-paired-donation.pdf

“Tissue Donation”. Donate Life America. https://donatelife.net/donation/organs/tissue-donation/]