People who wish to donate their bodies to science after death often cause disputes among their relatives because the decision goes against burial tradition in Vietnam, a country still heavily influenced by Confucian tradition.

However, more and more people are offering their bodies for medical research and education as social awareness increases.

To pay gratitude to the donors, institutes, hospitals, and universities offer annual ceremonies for relatives to visit the corpses before they are cremated after three to five years of service.

Stories of body donors

For a body to be donated, it must be kept whole, and the donor must commit in writing that they wish to donate their body after death.

Ms. Vo Kim Hoa of Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most devoted supporters of body donation. It was her insistence that helped her late husband fulfil his wish to donate his body regardless of his relatives’ protests.

She began telling the story of her husband, Mr. Hoang The Hung, by saying, “He is not only my husband but also my life partner. We promised to be with each other even after death by donating our bodies for medical research and education.”

They both worked for a primary school in the city. One day, Hung told Hoa, “We have no children, no assets. What is our legacy?” The couple was concerned over the issue for months, until Hoa read an old news story about body donation in early 2008. She gave it to her husband to read.

“We understand each other well. Seeing his expression after reading it, I knew he agreed,” Hoa recalled.

The following day, they visited the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine, where they both registered to donate their bodies after death. Returning home, Hung was clearly happy, singing songs for many days, Hoa remembered.

“For days, our chats might have been on other topics, but eventually always led to the topic of body donation,” Hoa said.

A year after they registered, Hung died after suffering a stroke at the school where they both worked. Policemen insisted on performing an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.

Hoa refused the autopsy in order to keep Hung’s body intact for donation.

She said she won the battle to keep his body intact but it was not easy, as she was under the influence of the police, her husband’s family, and neighbors.

Some of them even believed that she had sold her husband’s body to earn extra money.

Despite the difficulty of the process, she doesn’t regret her actions. She recalled that she felt a strange feeling of happiness and peace of mind when she visited him in a university lab, although he was just an embalmed body.

“I know I did the right thing,” she said.

Ms. Kim Hoa and the certificate of body donation of her late husband (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

A voluntary action

Ms. Phuong Oanh, a receptionist for the anatomy department of the HCMC University of Medicine, admitted that she witnesses relatives of body donors suffering from misunderstandings and disputes because of prejudices and traditions.

Many women called the department crying because they were discriminated against by relatives and neighbors after insisting on donating the bodies of their husbands to science.

Mr. Le Van Cuong, head of the anatomy department of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine, confirmed that body donation is a completely voluntary deed and his school has never given a gift or bonus to their families.