I read this article the other day and I just kept thinking to myself, “Wow. Some people are just willing to sell anything!”
Here's a lady who's trying to fence excess breast milk. She has a 4-month old daughter who has suddenly decided that mommy's milk is just not for her. Dumping it is, of course, not an option. So Mom figures she'd just sell it. Does this not seem even the slightest bit strange?
I mean, let's be honest here. If your own kid doesn't want to drink your milk, why on earth would I want to give it to my kid? Granted, the argument might be that it's because the baby didn't want to nurse from a bottle, but I'm sure that the milk could've been mixed in with maybe the baby's cream of wheat or some other mushy thing she eats.
Ultimately, the lady found a solution by donating to University of Iowa's Mother's Milk Bank.
I did a quick Google search on the selling of breast milk and found that it's not really as uncommon as I first though. Apparently, according to CNN, lots of people are doing it.
Being of single status and without child, perhaps I'm not the ideal person to be commenting on this practice, but are people not at all concerned about the risks to their own child? How could a market for this even form, let alone thrive? There is a lot of research out there supporting the theory that breast milk is best, but only you know what you have or have not done to yourself in terms of health. How do you know that these other mom's are telling the truth regarding their health habits? Some of these third-party breast milk sales have gone through labs so the milk has been screened, but I highly doubt that the lady who's posting an advert on Craigslist has gotten her milk screened.
I'm sure there are lots of reasons why a mom would find herself in a position where she might want to buy someone else's breast milk or have someone else nurse their child. The concept of a wet nurse surely is not a new one. But then again, neither is the concept of slavery. I know it's a harsh comparison, but historically, only higher social classes would use a wet nurse. In developing nations it might be a necessity of the circumstances that babies can be nursed by someone other than their own mother, but that realm is outside this commentary. After all, for them, it may be a matter of survival. In the modern day of developed society, this sharing or sale of breast milk just seems like an idea that someone came up with because they were bored and had nothing else better to do with their time. Even if the mom has lost both her breasts to breast cancer or some other disease/accident, the baby will not die without breast milk.
The issue of nursing your child with milk other than your own aside, I really don't think one should be able to sell their excess breast milk. Much like blood, bone marrow, or any other bodily fluid or body part, I don't believe they should be for sale. Without actually intending to, it can (and likely will, if it has not already) create an exploitative environment for young mothers who going through financial hardship.
Society should take a firm stance on this. It either needs to more strongly regulate this practice, or make the means of screening more easily available to the public. I think the sale of breast milk should be banned and that people should have a place to donate it if they wish to.
But then again, maybe I'm just a naïve single girl who won't understand until I'm a mother.
