Woman posts ad to sell her breast milk
 

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...QKHawD8SL3NDG0
Woman Takes Out Ad to Sell Breast Milk
2 days ago

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A woman who doesn't want her breast milk to go to waste has taken out a newspaper ad in hopes of selling it. Martha Heller, 22, of Tiffin, took out the ad in The Gazette, offering 100 ounces of her breast milk for $200 or the best offer.

Heller said her freezer is overflowing with breast milk that she has pumped since August. Her 4-month-old daughter won't drink from a bottle and the supply is piling up.

Heller now donates to the University of Iowa's Mother's Milk Bank, but the 100 ounces of milk she wants to sell was pumped before going through the screening process for the bank and cannot be donated.

Linda Klein, a lactation consultant at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, said breast milk can generally be stored in a freezer for up to six months.

Heller said she researched laws regarding the sale of breast milk and couldn't find any in Iowa.

Don McCormick, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said he was not aware of any laws in Iowa restricting the sale of breast milk, but that state health officials advised against it.

Heller said she hasn't received any legitimate calls about her ad.

"There was one prank caller," she said.

Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazetteonline.com/



Hmmm wonder if this would get past E - Bay's code of conduct?

ewwww ew ew ew ew

I mean....you can sell blood...........and if you need it, you wouldn't turn down blood...hahahahahahahah



All jokes aside...

Lady....how do we know your milk is safe? Are you going to pasteurize it yourself?

There is a huge need for donated human milk for premies etc. and a HUGE market for it, going for as much as $5 an ounce. This person was only charging $2.00 an ounce.

I tried to talk my daughter into selling hers when she was nursing my grandson (she had so much extra) to help pay for her nursing school. She said she was too lazy to pump, but the next child she will do it.

I think I recall reading somewhere that bodybuilders like it too for all the protein and nutrients, etc...

My issue would be that I always thought the mother's breastmilk was best for HER baby but if it's an unrelated mother (particularly an unscreened unrelated mother), I would think formula would be safer.

U know I just thought about it...all the wet nursing that has been going on since time immemorial....

I think that's why milk banks have been established. A good friend of ours runs the one here in Denver, and my wife used to be a lactation consultant. I don't know that there is a problem, or a specific value, in the breast milk being from mother to her baby. Even if so, any breast milk is likely beneficial.

DamonSeid's point about wet nursing is valid as well.

Because milk banks are for the use of babies who have some sort of alergy to other milk or formula, though, I'd sure rather see excess milk donated instead of sold.

But, to each her/his own.

I just "googled" breast milk bank, I honestly never knew they existed! So interesting! And I see that they do require screening before someone can donate, so that's a good thing. Also an excellent point made by Daemon re: wet nurses, hadn't thought about that either. I agree that donating to these banks that help needy families and sick children would be a very noble thing. The people that can afford to pay top dollar can probably find another avenue (like hiring a wet nurse! :)).

Ya'll beat me to the wet nurses thing. I remember being contacted by a milk bank when I was still nursing. Some babies can't handle the chemicals in formulas, even the gentle formulas, so milk banks are a great resource.