Donate Life Tennessee: How to Document Your Organ Donation Wishes

One organ donor can save up to eight lives and enhance the lives of over 75 others through tissue and cornea donations. Tennessee makes registering straightforward — but many residents don't realize their advance directive includes a section specifically for organ donation instructions, and that this section can either reinforce or conflict with their donor registration.

How to Register as an Organ Donor in Tennessee

The primary way to register is through the Donate Life Tennessee registry, managed by the Tennessee Donor Services organization. You can register:

• At the DMV when you obtain or renew your driver's license — the heart symbol on your license indicates registered donor status
• Online through the Donate Life Tennessee registry website
• Through your advance directive — the Individual Instructions section lets you specify anatomical gift preferences

Registration through any of these channels creates a legally binding first-person authorization. Under Tennessee's adoption of the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, your registration cannot be revoked by your family after your death — your documented wishes control.

Including Organ Donation in Your Advance Directive

Part 3 (Individual Instructions) of Tennessee's Advance Directive for Health Care includes space to document your anatomical gift preferences. You can specify:

• Whether you want to donate organs, tissues, or both
• Whether you want to donate your entire body to medical research
• Any limitations on which organs or tissues may be donated
• Whether your healthcare agent has authority to make donation decisions on your behalf

This section matters because it provides written context that supplements your donor registry entry. If you registered at the DMV but later changed your mind about certain types of donation, your advance directive's Individual Instructions can reflect those specific preferences.

When Advance Directives and Organ Donation Conflict

A common concern: if your advance directive says "withdraw life-sustaining treatment" and you're a registered organ donor, will doctors keep you alive against your wishes just to harvest organs?

Tennessee law addresses this directly. Your healthcare agent and physicians must follow your treatment preferences first. Organ procurement organizations work within the medical reality of the patient's condition — they do not direct clinical care decisions.

In practice, organ donation decisions happen only after a patient has been declared brain dead or after cardiac death occurs following the withdrawal of life support. The donation process begins after death, not as an alternative to honoring your advance directive.

If you want to be absolutely clear, your Individual Instructions section can specify something like: "I wish to donate viable organs after death, but my healthcare agent should not delay the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for the purpose of organ preservation."

Whole-Body Donation to Science

Tennessee residents can also choose whole-body donation to medical education and research institutions. Programs accepting whole-body donations include the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and the Forensic Anthropology Center (often called the "Body Farm") at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Whole-body donation differs from organ donation in several ways:

• You typically need to pre-register with the specific institution
• Not all bodies are accepted — the program may decline based on medical conditions, cause of death, or body condition
• Organ donation and whole-body donation are generally mutually exclusive — most research programs require an intact body
• A licensed funeral director must coordinate the physical transfer and biological transportation compliance

Your advance directive is not a contract for donation. It documents your preferences, but the actual donation arrangements require separate registration with the receiving institution and coordination with a funeral director immediately after death.

Practical Steps to Protect Your Wishes

1. Register with Donate Life Tennessee through your driver's license or online
2. Document your specific preferences in the Individual Instructions section of your advance directive
3. Tell your healthcare agent exactly what you want — verbal conversations supplement written documents
4. If you want whole-body donation, contact the institution directly to pre-register
5. Keep your advance directive accessible — donation decisions happen in hours, not days

The Tennessee Advance Directive & Living Will Kit walks you through documenting organ donation preferences in your advance directive, coordinating with your healthcare agent, and making sure your wishes are legally enforceable.

See more Tennessee guides →