Last week, Wired.com posted an interesting article, Liquid Gold: The Booming Market for Human Breast Milk, detailing the new business of buying and selling breast milk. I guess the “business” isn’t necessarily new, since women have been hiring wet nurses to feed their babies for hundreds of years. It’s the “selling” of one’s breast milk for economic gain that is the new “business.”
We all know the demand for breast milk these days is high. Since the Surgeon General’s 2004 report citing the benefits of breast-feeding over formula feeding was released, the amount of breast fed babies has steadily risen. So much that women who can’t breastfeed are now going to great lengths to provide breast milk, over formula, to their babies.
When our generation needs something or wants to sell something, we immediately go to the internet, so it’s no surprise that women now have online forums and groups where they can buy and sell breast milk. According to this article, breast milk, unlike other bodily fluids, is actually considered a food by the US government, therefore making it legal to buy, sell and swap. Since Craigslist and eBay have both banned these sales, websites such as Only the Breast and various Facebook groups have popped up to fill this need. These groups understand the supply and demand for breast milk, and are helping over-producing mothers with a freezer full of frozen milk make some money enabling them to stay home with their babies while other children benefit from getting nutritious breast milk over formula.
On the flip side, purchasing un-screened milk may also expose your baby to many other diseases. In November of 2010 the FDA, concerned with these sales sites, released a statement reminding women “when human milk is obtained directly from individuals or through the Internet, the donor is unlikely to have been adequately screened for infectious disease or contamination risk. In addition, it is not likely that the human milk has been collected, processed, tested, or stored in a way that reduces possible safety risks to the baby.”
The article notes that in a 2010 Stanford University study out of 1,091 women who applied to donate milk to a bank in San Jose 3.3 percent were rejected after their blood samples tested positive for at least one of five serious infections such as syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human T-cell lymphotropic virus. Purchasing milk straight from another woman may also put your baby at risk if the lactating woman is drinking or using drugs. The final choice for mothers are certified milk banks, where the milk is screened and adequately stored. But milk banks rely on donations from lactating moms and don’t pay per ounce like the internet websites.
We all know that breastfeeding is an Internet HOT TOPIC that many of us hate to even touch. But we here at SDMOMfia want to know: would you consider buying breast milk from another woman to feed your baby, and would you consider selling your personal breast milk for profit
About HipMamaB
I actually donated over 60 POUNDS of breastmilk when my daughter was a baby!!! She was born at 31 weeks premature and I was a human cow! I was pumping 12 oz at a time and she was not even eating 1 oz at each feeding so I stockpiled it. Once she started nursing on her own (at 3 months old) I had SOOOO much milk that was going to go bad if I didn’t use it so I donated it all! I saw a news article on the Mothers Milk Bank in California and I called them and went through the testing to be able to donate it. I had to take blood tests and also get permission from my daughters pediatrician.
One of my great life accomplishments!! I’m not sure what they used my milk for…either to feed preemies or for research…either way….I felt great about it!
I’m actually looking into donating my milk now. I have about 50 bags stored and labeled in my freezer. There’s literally no room for anything else in our freezer and my baby will never catch up!
I couldn’t sell my milk. There are so many mothers out there who desperately want to breast feed their babies and just can’t. If I had had any leftover I would have donated it, and had found the donation banks in the area I was living in at the time. To sell it, IMHO, feels wrong.
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Due to fibromyalgia, I had extreme supply issues and was only able to supply about half of my son’s milk needs. I had a friend with an over-abundant supply who gave me enough milk to make up the difference. I offerred to pay, but she wouldn’t hear of it. I am still so thankful to her! Giving breastmilk to babys in need is a wonderful thing, be it by donation or sale.
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The practice itself does not overly concern me as it was commonplace for hundreds of years across many countries and cultures. In those days, though, the woman was usually known to the family or was known to friends or family. These days there are just too many risk factors involved. It’s not just diseases…drugs, prescription and otherwise, the woman’s eating habits, environment….just too many things that can make this more dangerous for a baby than simply feeding it formula. I applaud the women who have chosen to share their breast milk with someone else’s baby, but everyone involved needs to know what they’re getting into.
I doubt the buyers have reliable methods to test the supply to ensure they’re not feeding their child a toxic cocktail. While I understand breast milk is best, it’s not necessarily so if you cannot verify the source is safe.
I wouldn’t do it unless it was from someone I know and have access to their medical screenings for substances and diseases.
I was not able to breastfeed my two children. The youngest was a preemie so that was of particular distress to me at the time. She is as healthy and bright as her brother and both are almost supernaturally resistant to colds and other illnesses. Breast milk is not the only way to that end.