Existing Cryonics Organizations

For most of cryonics history (which began in the mid-1960s), all of the cryonics organizations offering cryonics services have been in the United States. Recently an organization has been created in Russia (just northwest of Moscow) and there are plans for another organization in Australia to offer perfusion and storage of cryonics patients within a few years.

Alcor Life Extension Foundation and the American Cryonics Society (ACS) are organized as 501(c)3 charitable organizations, whereas the Cryonics Institute (CI) is simply a non-profit corporation. Although Suspended Animation, Inc. (SA) is ostensibly a for-profit company, it is mainly engaged in research and development of cryonics capabilities financed by the principals of the Life Extension Foundation.

Cryonics Services Offered

Not all cryonics services are offered by all cryonics organizations. Patient administration service is offered by cryonics organizations that sign-up Members who are to be cryopreserved upon legal death and maintain responsibility for those Members while they are Patient's in cryopreservation storage. Perfusion is the replacement of normal body fluid with cryoprotective solutions to reduce or prevent ice formation at cryogenic temperatures. Storage is the storage of a cryonics patient in liquid nitrogen. Standby/Transport involves standing by the bedside of a medically terminal patient destined to be cryopreserved, the application of a heart-lung resuscitator and ice-water cooling as soon as possible after declaration of death, and transport to a perfusion facility while tissues are still being stabilized at low temperature.

The American Cryonics Society (ACS) mainly contracts with Suspended Animation, Inc. (SA) for perfusion and standby/transport, and contracts with the Cryonics Institute (CI) for storage. ACS also has equipment, contractors and volunteers which are available for use in perfusion and standby in California should the need arise, although this is far less sophisticated and formal than what SA provides. ACS creates and manages individual charitable trusts for its patients. ACS regards these trusts as an important feature of the benefit gained by being an ACS Member.

Cryonics Institute (CI) Members who reside in the continental United States have the option of contracting directly with SA if they desire professional Standby/Transport. In some cases volunteers or paid funeral directors have provided these services to CI Members. SA will keep records of CI Members who have arranged to have SA Standby/Transport, but does not continue any administrative responsibility after the patient has been cryopreserved.

Sizes of the Organizations

There are various ways by which organization size could be measured, but for the purposes of this section size is represented by the number of Members in the organization, the number of patients currently being stored in liquid nitrogen and the number of full-time paid staff in the organization. The figures below are for June 30, 2010.

Alcor has a large number or full-time paid staff along with part-time workers and volunteers. The American Cryonics Society (ACS) has an organizational policy against publishing the number of Members it has in its organization. As of the end of June 2010 the 19 ACS patients were all in storage at the Cryonics Institute (CI). ACS has had one part-time clerk to do office work and has otherwise relied on volunteers. The 96 patients in storage at CI includes the 19 ACS patients. KrioRus has no Membership program, and the method of counting patients is odd — not all are stored by KrioRus. As of June 2010 Alcor had over 36 pets and CI had 67 pets.

CI is a subcontractor for storage of the 19 ACS patients. CI has three paid staff (full-time and part-time), a few contractors and very many volunteers. Accounting is done by Treasurer Pat Heller (a CPA) with auditing by another CI Directors. David Ettinger is a lawyer with one of the largest and most respected legal firms in Michigan, and he provides legal services at cost (including assess to the expertise of his associates). Trans Time does not report its Membership numbers. Suspended Animation (SA) is a subcontractor which provides Standby/Transport only to other cryonics organizations, so it has no Members or Patients — or the reporting of Members or Patients for SA is "Not Applicable" (N/A).

Alcor and the Cryonics Institute Member numbers are not directly comparable because the word "Member" has different meanings for the two organizations. Membership in CI provides the privilege of obtaining cryopreservation services: pet, DNA or human cryopreservation. Many join CI only to store DNA or pets or to support CI, including some Alcor Members. Some Alcor Members have even made arrangements to use CI as a "back-up". Alcor does not allow "back-up". All Alcor Members have made arrangements (ie, funding and contracts in place) for human cryopreservation and standby/transport. Of the 833 CI Members at the end of June 2010, 420 had made arrangements for human cryopreservation and 84 had made arrangements for both human cryopreservation and standby/transport (all with SA). Only in 2006 did CI begin signing-up CI Members for SA standby/transport with life insurance and the growth rate of these CI/SA sign-ups has been comparable to Alcor's growth rate.

Up-to-date accounts of patient histories and membership growth can be found at:

       Cryonics Institute (CI) Patient Details

       Cryonics Institute (CI) Statistics Details

       Complete List of Alcor Cryopreservations

       Alcor Membership Statistics

Whole Body/Neuro Options

The term neuropreservation (or "neuro") generally refers to the practice of cryopreserving only the head rather than the whole body. Keeping the whole head to preserve the brain is convenient for both perfusion and storage (the skull protects the brain). In some cases, however, "neuros" are brain-only.

Alcor Members have the option of having their whole body cryopreserved or only their head ("neuro") — with different fees applicable to each choice. At the end of April 2008 Alcor had 53 neuro and 28 whole body patients. The Cryonics Institute has a policy against signing-up CI Members for neuropreservation — all CI Members with human cryopreservation arrangments are "whole body". ACS does not have a policy against neuropreservation, but as long as it only uses CI as its subcontractor for storage it cannot offer neurocrypreservation as an option. The eleven patients that KrioRus had in storage at the end of July 2009 were six whole bodies, four brains and one head. (A "neuro" is a whole head, not just the brain.) Trans Time has one whole body and one brain. Suspended Animation (SA) is a subcontractor which provides Standby/Transport only to other cryonics organizations, not storage, so the question of storage options with SA is "Not Applicable" (N/A).

Cryopreservation and Yearly Fees

Comparing fees for human cryopreservation and yearly Membership or Emergency Responsibility is difficult to summarize in table form because the policies, procedures and options between the cryonics organization are so different. A great deal of explanation is required. Note that the high prices for human cryopreservation are generally covered by life insurance policies.

To Alcor's yearly fee of $478 annual dues, those living in the United States and Canada must add $120 yearly standby fees for a total of $598 per year. A lifetime payment plan is also available. Standby service is not available to Alcor Members outside of the US and Canada, but a $15,000 surcharge is added whole body and neuro prices in the United Kingdom, and a $25,000 surcharge is added to the prices paid by those living in other countries. For details on Alcor pricing, see Schedule A: Required Costs and Suspension Funding Minimums.

The prices given for the American Cryonics Society (ACS) are intended to reflect comparable service to what Alcor provides. In fact, ACS has a very wide menu of options and prices available, including reference to a "California Procedure" which is intended to be distinguished from the "Michigan Procedure" offered by the Cryonics Institute. The yearly fee for an ACS Member is $376 for the first four years and $300 per year thereafter. For details on ACS options and fees, see: prices and funding.

The Cryonics Institute charges $28,000 for perfusion and storage of an Lifetime Member and $35,000 for a Yearly Member. These prices do not include funeral director costs or shipment to Michigan. (When CI was begun it was imagined that every state would have at least one cryonics service providers.) The Lifetime CI Member has paid a one-time $1,250 fee and the Yearly CI Member has paid a $75 initiation fee and is paying a $120 yearly fee. Discounts for additional family members and underage family members apply only to Lifetime Memberships. For service more comparable to what Alcor provides — including Standby and Transport — a Lifetime Member pays $88,000 and a Yearly Member pays $95,000. For details on CI pricing see Membership and Details Concerning SA Standby and Transport for CI Members.

For $49,000 KrioRus offers Russians (Europeans?) the option of shipment and storage at the Cryonics Institute in the USA. The Trans Time yearly fee is for "Emergency Responsibility" (responding to a cryonics emergency), not for Membership. The pricing given by Trans Time is not very descriptive. Suspended Animation (SA) is a subcontractor which provides Standby/Transport only to other cryonics organizations, not Membership or storage, so the question of these options with SA is "Not Applicable" (N/A).