Over My Dead Body

Body Donation and the Rise in Donor Registrations in the Netherlands

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13630541
AutoresSophie H Bolt (0000-0002-4807-1778, Radboud University Nijmegen, autor de correspondencia), Sophie Bolt (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Rob Eisinga (0000-0002-8349-5226, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Marga Altena (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Eric Venbrux (0000-0002-8817-0092, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Peter O Gerrits (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)
Año2012
Volumen66
Número1
Páginas57-77
Fecha de publicación2012-11-17
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2190/om.66.1.d
PMID23495537
OpenAlexW2103044316
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas11

In The Netherlands, the number of body donor registrations has been increasing for several years. Body donors are people who register at an anatomical institute to donate their entire body, after death, for scientific education and research. Although only 0.1% of the Dutch population is registered as a body donor, this is sufficient to realize the anatomical demand of about 650 bodies annually. Due to the recent rise of registrations many anatomical institutes have (temporarily) stopped registering new donors to prevent a surplus of bodies. Based on a large body donor survey (n=759) and in-depth anthropological interviews with 20 body donors, we try to give an explanation for the rising registration numbers. We argue that the choice for body donation in contemporary, individualized Dutch society is an autonomous way to give meaning and sense to life and death outside the framework of institutionalized religion

Dead body · Donation · Epistemology · Meaning (existential · Pathology · Political science · Population · Sociology · Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies · Demography · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Medicine · Organ Donation and Transplantation · Philosophy