The Breast Milk Trade

(Newswire.net — July 1, 2018) Cheyenne, Wyoming — The notion of buying and selling breast milk doesn’t sound very legitimate but believe it or not, it’s a growing fad. This type of trade was initially limited to being offered only to newborns whose mothers are unable to feed for whatever reason but it has since become a booming business to sell breast milk in much the same way as a carton of milk in some spheres. 

“In the United States, there are around a dozen banks which generally sell milk for around $4 an ounce, roughly the cost of processing and pasteurizing donations,” reports Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Australia in a December 2015 article. 

Under a nation bank for breast milk, one can appreciate the need to cover production cost by way of passing on a fraction of such expenses to the end users. However, sometimes this creates a vicious cycle and does more harm than good as loopholes for unsavory activities are often found by unscrupulous minds.  

“The Human Milk Bank Association of North America Guidelines stipulates that donors not be paid for their milk,” states Wikipedia. “However, hospitals and recipients are required to cover some of the cost for collection, processing and distribution of milk which may be from $3.00 to $5.00 an ounce.” 

Take for instance the old Brazilian breast milk banks policies of the past, poverty stricken mothers often sold their breast milk to the state at the expense of their own child’s health as they denied their infants of breast milk. Said infants were left underfed and malnourished or provided formula mixed with unsafe water. Thankfully, the system has been thoroughly overhauled and Brazil now boosts a first-class network of donor banks which have become a model for the rest of the world.  

Despite all the progress made, there are some pockets that have been created as independent entities now facilitate and capitalize on this lactation demand. With online stores such as Only The Breast providing a platform to buy, sell or donate breast milk under categories like “fat babies”, “fresh on demand needed” and “willing to sell to men.” 

“The vast majority of Only The Breast members are honest, abiding by OTB terms and are simply looking to provide safe milk for babies in need,” reads the Only The Breast website homepage. “However in light of cow’s milk contamination of some breast milk samples purchased via the internet, Only The Breast reiterates our long-term guidance that all OTB sellers should follow best practices using aseptic technique for expressing, handling, and storing human milk which also addresses shipping, freezing, and all buyers must follow safety guidelines for peer to peer donor screening.” 

While the motive and validity of Only The Breast and there are other similar entities which are highly questionable, one thing is for sure, there’s a lot of breast milk being moved about. Moreover, just as a caring mother would ensure her baby consumes nothing but the best, if faced with the need to purchase breast milk, it is a must to be well advised to use a breast milk analysis kit much like the HealthyWiser™ PureMilk™ alcohol detecting strips to test the delivery as a precaution.