O/T selling breast milk...

[lynz85]

Ok so i was just surfing around and stumbled across a few articles of women selling their breast milk...

I am aware this is more heard of in America than in Britain. There is a website www.onlythebreast.com where you can buy and sell the stuff.

I dont know what my views are on this one, its an intimate bodily fluid i guess but we will happily drink milk from a cow or goat who walks around in a field all day and think nothing of it but the idea of drinking another human's milk is so taboo.....I try to be an open minded person but i just dont know if i could bring myself to do it.

I guess it has its place i.e milk donation for premmie's but would you feed your baby another woman's milk if you couldn't? Would you prefer annoyomous donations/buy it from 'reputable' sources/ family member?

What got me was there are a few articles out there of men buying the stuff......god only knows what for! Also an ice cream parlour in London selling a bowl of human ice cream for £14.

So whats your views on this?

Some articles i came across:

https://blogs.babble.com/strollerde...line-would-you-buy-or-sell-it-i-wouldnt-ever/

https://www.onlythebreast.com/

https://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/25/human-milk-ice-cream-sale

https://www.pickmeupmagazine.co.uk/real_lives/I_sell_my_breast_milk_article_277716.html

 

[jocelynmarie]

I can't say I've ever thought of it before, or really even ever heard of it. I think I would have a hard time feeding my baby breast milk from someone else though. I plan on breastfeeding myself at first, but then will be switching over to formula. I think if I was unable to breast feed I would just go straight to formula.

 

[Pixie2320]

I try to be open minded, but honestly it made me vomit in my mouth a little.

I can understand preemies in the hospital where I would assume donors have been screened for health and communicable diseases etc etc ... but no.. if for some reason I can't BF my baby or express we will go FF..

There was a show awhile back someone described a woman who was still breast feeding her almost teen ./vomit and she also expressed milk for her husbands cereal ./double vomit No can do!

 

[m0mmyCool]

I agree with Pixie

 

[leahsbabybump]

every one to their own i say i would'nt give it my baby but my OH says he would if wasnt so expensive lol x

 

[ChristinaRN]

Yes, women are trying to do this in the US and I'm pretty sure it is illegal UNLESS it has been screened. I saw a lady on Craigslist trying to sell it and I reported her. I am sure her intentions were good but as a nurse, I can NOT just look the other way to the potential harm that could be done by some well meaning person passing on breast milk to a preemie that hasn't been screened. Who knows what medications this lady is on or what her health conditions are. I think breast milk DONATION to a breast milk bank is a GREAT idea and a great resource for the community. The breast milk clinics screen the mothers donating as well as the milk itself. But I just think there is something wrong with the intention of doing it solely to make a living......a little compensation is nice for your time etc but some of these ladies are charging an arm and a leg!

 

[leahsbabybump]

im with christinaRN especially your view on donation this is sooo true we wouldnt expect someone to pay us for our blood so why our milk

 

[cyanidepill]

I always try to keep an open mind.....but I don't know, I think i find the concept a bit odd to be honest. xx

 

[BabiNo2]

I had heard that Elton John and David Furnish get breast milk sent in for their adopted baby. Not sure if its the actual mother but they have said they believe breast milk to be the best for babies and as they can't provide it they get it elsewhere. I suppose that's reasonable enough however wacky at the same time lol

 

[leahsbabybump]

I had heard that Elton John and David Furnish get breast milk sent in for their adopted baby. Not sure if its the actual mother but they have said they believe breast milk to be the best for babies and as they can't provide it they get it elsewhere. I suppose that's reasonable enough however wacky at the same time lol

its the babys actual mother who sends them the breast milk it was on telly yesterday xx

 

[BabiNo2]

I had heard that Elton John and David Furnish get breast milk sent in for their adopted baby. Not sure if its the actual mother but they have said they believe breast milk to be the best for babies and as they can't provide it they get it elsewhere. I suppose that's reasonable enough however wacky at the same time lol

its the babys actual mother who sends them the breast milk it was on telly yesterday xx

I bet she is highly compensated though lol

 

[leahsbabybump]

I had heard that Elton John and David Furnish get breast milk sent in for their adopted baby. Not sure if its the actual mother but they have said they believe breast milk to be the best for babies and as they can't provide it they get it elsewhere. I suppose that's reasonable enough however wacky at the same time lol

its the babys actual mother who sends them the breast milk it was on telly yesterday xx

I bet she is highly compensated though lol

i bet she is aswell lol i bet she was highly compensated for having the baby in the first place :-/

 

[BabiNo2]

Can you imagine eh? That's her sorted for life really. lol

I could never do anything like that, I think surrogacy is amazing and the people who do it are great but I would get too attached and then having to supply the breast milk for months afterwards as well, would be too emotionally painful.

 

[freckleonear]

I think it's very important to distinguish between selling breastmilk and donating breastmilk. There are several informal networks for donating breastmilk throughout the world, which is wonderful. If I was ever unable to breastfeed for any reason, then I would absolutely use donated milk rather than formula. However, I don't agree with the sale of breastmilk for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it discourages women from donating their precious milk to milk banks. Breastmilk is so important for premature and sick babies, it can literally be the difference between life and death and milk banks often have a shortage of breastmilk anyway. Secondly, it reduces the safety of milk sharing. Safe milk sharing relies on the donor being completely honest about their health and lifestyle. It is unlikely that a woman would spend so much time and effort donating milk for no financial reward (as well as feeding her own baby) if her milk could possibly be harmful. Introducing money into the situation makes private milk donation a lot less safe (and it can be very safe when done properly).

 

[Apen2009]

I don't know how big of a thing in the U.S. this is. . I've never seen and advertisement for such a thing. However, the old adage, Breast is Best may apply here. For women who are unable to produce milk this is a great option. I have to imagine this is very well regulated because it is a bodily fluid.
Also for 3rd world countries this IS more mainstream.. .where formula is not available and babies need the nutrition. . it's a gift of life. There are women in villages dedicated as surrugote breast milk providers.

 

[Mummytofour]

I have donated blood, plasma and breast milk for years now and I would actually be offended if anyone tried to pay me for any of them.
The biggest reward I get is knowing that the most vunerable babies are getting the best mother nature can give them.

 

[Mummytofour]

Forgot to say, I was intensively screened for all donations and will continue to be on a regular basis.

 

[Rachel_C]

I don't agree with selling breastmilk for babies but if people want to buy it for other purposes, like making icecream, then I don't have a problem with it as long as it's done safely. I don't think the type of woman who would sell milk like that would be the kind of person who would donate to a milk bank anyway, so I doubt it would affect donations to banks.

If I was unable to breastfeed my next baby, donated milk would absolutely be the next choice for us. Donated milk is far superior to formula nutritionally but I wouldn't pay for it, other than to cover expenses, as I think that would compromise the integrity of the mother (e.g. if she'd had a couple of drinks, would she really want to chuck the milk away like she would normally, or would she be thinking "But I can get £10 for that and they'll never know"?). It wouldn't be great to know that my baby was being nourished by another woman but it wouldn't be actually breastfeeding and would be better than formula, which I hate with a vengeance! (My LO is FF btw)