# Gentlemen: You die and are an organ donor. What if **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821 "2022-02-02T23:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/81 "2022-02-03T22:29:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > He never agreed to not drink again. He is currently recuperating, so I guess we’ll see. I assume he’s gotta stay dry for a while after the transplant. Maybe that’ll help him learn other methods of getting along that are less destructive to his bod. Best wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/82 "2022-02-03T22:41:17Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Thank you, but everything I write is gold. I am a gift. And we’re back to baseline. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/83 "2022-02-03T22:43:25Z")
I see what you did there. To the OP - it would be fine. I hope he gets as much joy out of it as I did. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/84 "2022-02-03T22:54:01Z")
I think I would stipulate that the recipient not do porn. I’m the modest type. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/85 "2022-02-03T23:14:45Z")
Really, why should I care what happens after I’m dead? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/86 "2022-02-03T23:18:57Z")
I think the results here obviously reflect the non-transphobic and generally decent people demographic of this board, but there are plenty of places on the internet you could post this where people would say “ew no, I’d never want that to happen” - no debate here since no one is willing to take that side. You’d probably get a more controversial response around here if you asked something like “would you want your donated organs to go to a Trump supporter”, to which most people would say yes, but it would at least show some disagreement and hesitation I think. Of course my position is that I’d prefer my organs to go to a good person, but you can’t really start putting that sort of judgement and list of requirements on the organ donation process, which is already hard enough to match the the right people in the right window to work out, so adding any stipulations just ends up meaning more organs go to waste and fewer people get helped. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/87 "2022-02-03T23:27:58Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Funny thought though that someone would’ve fun with my junk after I’m dead. I’d like that. But I feel like I should include an Owner’s Manual (“Tends to pull to the right when you really rev it.”). . > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > You’d really have to admire a person whose blatant homophobia extended beyond their natural life, though, huh ? If you’re referring to the OP’s requirement that “the testicles be vasectomized so that he can’t father a kid” part, yeah that seemed kind of transphobic, or just mean. Why keep a trans person from procreating? He could have my junk with everything intact. Anything else would be dickish. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/88 "2022-02-03T23:37:55Z")
That’s not transphobic. I made a specific ethical choice not to have kids - I don’t want someone being able to use my DNA to make a kid, either. Whether or not your genetic material is used to make a kid is something that you should have control over and is separate from the donation issue. I’d feel the same with a doctor who took a sperm sample being prevented from using it to fertilize an egg too - whether or not a biological child is created with my genes should be under my control. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/89 "2022-02-03T23:40:48Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > no debate here since no one is willing to take that side. Okay, I’ll bite. In the spirit of gaining perspective consider the following position held by an acquaintance of mine. She is not convinced anything like the majority of people undergoing reassignment surgery are completely in their right minds. Facilitating such surgeries by donating one’s bits to the cause likely feeds a mental illness that is mutilating an otherwise healthy body, potentially with long term adverse physical and mental consequences. This thought comes from the same place as, for instance, not giving ropes and razors to an actively suicidal person. She’s not a hater, but she grinds her axe for those who encourage reassignment, especially in prepubescent children. Personally, I don’t care one way or the other because I’ve got my own stuff to deal with in life, and if parting out my corpse helps someone take a voluntary action on a journey of self-discovery/self-realization, even if they live to regret it with every fiber of their being, then I’ve helped them learn something about themself so no regrets. But other folks feel the need to at least passively prevent someone from taking drastic action by not enabling it. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/90 "2022-02-03T23:43:52Z")
Okay agreed there’s no sperm benefit for progeny of the deceased junk donor. Fer yaks sale you can’t have it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/91 "2022-02-04T02:05:21Z")
> [@digs](#): > > If you’re referring to the OP’s requirement that “the testicles be vasectomized so that he can’t father a kid” part, yeah that seemed kind of transphobic, or just mean. Why keep a trans person from procreating? Hang on. My requirement has nothing to do with the fact that a transman might get the nod, transplant-wise. If a cis guy got it he’d get the vasectomized version, too. The ethics of allowing someone to pass on someone elses DNA point towards “no”. Legal reasons, blah, blah, blah. A cis guy who got a transplanted penis and scrotum got artificial testicles for that very reason even though transplanted testicles are likely possible; one guy who got a transplanted penis fathered a kid (his testicles were unaffected, so apparently a hookup is doable). ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/92 "2022-02-04T04:41:23Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > She is not convinced anything like the majority of people undergoing reassignment surgery are completely in their right minds. This don’t-encourage-bad-life-decisions attitude indicates your acquaintance would not consent to organ donation in the first place, as presupposed in the OP. See also my examples above about the liver going to a drunkard, the heart to a cokehead… ~Max ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/93 "2022-02-04T06:41:13Z")
I’m not really seeing a reason to consider this different than any other transplant. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/94 "2022-02-04T07:11:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > This is … an odd hypothetical … and, like everyone else pretty much has said, why or how could I possibly give a damn? Stick my dead dick on somebody’s head if that’s what science wants. Hehe, this is my favorite response to this thread. Seriously, otherwise bacteria and/or other stuff are eating the whole thing immediately, or I’m being burnt up. I don’t care what you do with my body when I’m dead and gone (bury me by the highway side). I’m an organ donor, but that’s more aspirational that I’ll have anything left worth salvaging when I’m done with it. Heck, if having dead people’s penises attached to your forehead becomes the fashion by the time I’m dead - I’ll think it’s dumb as hell if there’s any part of me that can think it. But I doubt there will be any part that can care. So if my doodle becomes a fashion statement after I can’t support it anymore, accessorize away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/95 "2022-02-04T16:14:25Z")
Either I’ve got other things to worry about by that time or I don’t. Either way, this wouldn’t be on that list. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/96 "2022-02-04T18:15:52Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > But like, letting some for-profit company flay my body and literally sell my skin for $80k… for it to be used in cosmetic operations and cosmetic products… bothers me. Why? [Extra text to satisfy the board.] ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/97 "2022-02-04T18:49:32Z")
1. I’m emotionally attached to my body and cannot fully comprehend a situation (me being dead) where I wouldn’t be. 2. People I care about may be discomforted if my dead body is cut up, and I care now about how they might feel after I’m dead. 3. There are people out there who need tissue donations to heal their wounds, I think. If my body is being cut up and processed to help these people heal, that could overcome 1 and 2. If it’s being used mostly for cosmetic operations, not so much. 4. If my dead body is being sold to benefit private individuals, (directly or through _unreasonable_ “processing fees”) that strikes me as unfair profit. Kind of like donating baked goods for a private school’s bake sale fundraiser, where the owner pockets the revenue rather than buying textbooks. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821/98 "2022-02-04T20:26:01Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > If my dead body is being sold to benefit private individuals,… I think we’re talking about benefitting individuals’ privates. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentlemen-you-die-and-are-an-organ-donor-what-if/958821.md?page=4)