# Selling breastmilk on ebay



## proud mama of 2 (Dec 16, 2004)

I just received a phone call from my mom in Texas and she was watching
the news. She told me of a woman who bought breastmilk off Ebay for her baby.

I had never heard of this before so I went online and checked. Sure enough there was someone selling. It looks like she hasn't sold any yet, but obviously someone has.

Just thought I would share --

I would give you a link, but I haven't figured out how to do that on here yet. I just went to ebay and typed in breast milk - it's at the bottom of the page.

TRACY


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## Lula's Mom (Oct 29, 2003)

Here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...550108710&rd=1

I'm not positive, but I think that will probably be pulled. It's most likely against e-Bay rules, maybe under this section: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/remains.html It says "Examples of prohibited items include, but are not limited to: organs, bone, blood, waste, sperm, and eggs." They'll probably put bm in that category.


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## darkstar (Sep 8, 2003)

I see breast milk for sale on www.craigslist.org And I have also read that they see it for sale a few times a month.








darkstar


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## goodjoan (Jan 8, 2005)

Good Morning America had a segment on it this morning, I was furious! The "expert" they had on was saying how dangerous breastmilk can be, since it is like a blood product and can transmit illnesses and drugs. He said that breastmilk is obviously better for babies but that moms should feed baby formula before feeding someone elses breastmilk. Ugh! They did a short interview with a mom that had double mastectomy and used donor milk that she got via friends and the internet, so she could feed her babies because the milk banks wanted something like $17K a year for milk. They made some reference to her having 'screened' the moms which to me meant she got some blood tests and made sure they were healthy moms. Instead of making her look like a really smart lady for going so far to provide the best for her baby, they made her look like a fool that was risking her childs health by giving her baby someone elses potentially fatal bodily fluids.

It was an infuriating segment. I'm betting they get reams of irate mail and a lot of medical research in reply! I've been pondering all day what I should write to them becaue I think they just did nursing moms all over, and babies everywhere, a huge disservice!


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## Galatea (Jun 28, 2004)

I just saw this on the local crap news and they didn't present it as scarily. They said that there has been a lot of research coming out now that says that breastmilk prevents infections and that is why people want it. They also said that she worked with a doctor to screen the donors including blood tests. They did make a big deal about the possible risk of contagion, though.


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## foreverinbluejeans (Jun 21, 2004)

The media keeps trying to scare us about HIV and predictions have not proven to come true in the US. Breastmilk can be heated (pasturized) to kill HIV and this should be an option for an HIV positive mother in the US. Most of the components are preserved in the breastmilk.

There is agreement of only one other disease to be concerned about, active Tb. HIV and Tb are both conditions that are very easy to get tested for. The donor should not abuse alcohol or recreational drugs or be undergoing chemotherapy.

Formula is way down the list of what is best for the baby. The best choice is breastfeeding by the child's mother, followed by: feeding fresh expressed milk from the mother, feeding refrigerated milk from the mother, feeding recent frozen milk from the mother, feeding older frozen milk from the mother, another mother with a child of similar age breastfeeding the baby, another mother with a child of differing age breastfeeding the baby, fresh expressed milk from other mother with a child of similar age, fresh expressed milk from other mother with a child of differing age, refrigerated donor milk, frozen donor milk, and then formula. With a young baby, another mother breastfeeding the baby may be the best choice to preserve the baby's ability and desire to breastfeed.

I had to be hospitalized with pneumonia and septicemia when my baby was only 3 weeks old and couldn't nurse for about 24 hours while I was in ICU. I did not hesitate to have a friend with a baby a few weeks older than mine breastfeed my baby. I was able to leave the hospital in a few days but had to have home IV antibiotic therapy for 3 weeks. I always think it is sad when women wean because they have to take an antibiotic or because they have a minor illness.


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## morgainesmama (Sep 1, 2004)

Well we actually looked into this once when money was desparate. I'm surprised it's still happening because ebay's policy specifically states that no bodily fluids can be sold on ebay.









I Had a daycare director tell me, when I was bfing my daughter in a daycare I worked at (for 3 days) that I was violating OSHA regulations by transmitting bodily fluids without gloves while I was working.







:









Anyway I think it would be great if this were a readily available alternative to formula. Low start-up costs for a WAHM!


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## MilkOnDemand (Jan 7, 2005)

I actually reported the violation to ebay because while it is perfect legal to donate breastmilk, it is illegal to sell it. I'm all in favor of donating, I donated nearly 2000 oz because I pumped 20-22 oz every day at work for 12 months and Dorothy didn't take more than 3-7 ounces a day.

Tara
Dustin 5
Dorothy 3
Baby - edd 7/4/05


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## Rainbow Brite (Nov 2, 2004)

This was posted on a mainstream board I belong to, and you wouldn't believe the outrage. Very few of us defended receiving donated bm (not from ebay though). You wouldn't believe how many ignorant ppl think formula is just as good as bm


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## stayhomemummy (Jul 28, 2004)

Darn!

That could have been a nice little business for me and all my extra gallons of BMilk!

LOL!!!


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## proud mama of 2 (Dec 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *stayhomemummy*
Darn!

That could have been a nice little business for me and all my extra gallons of BMilk!

LOL!!!

My thoughts exactly !


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## Clarity (Nov 19, 2001)

I called my local FDA rep about this about 2 years ago when some was on auction on kittybids/wahmall. The sale of breastmilk is not illegal and is not regulated by them, they told me very clearly. It might conflict withlcoal health department rules, but on a national level, it is not.


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## monkey's mom (Jul 25, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *goodjoan*
Good Morning America had a segment on it this morning, I was furious!

Those are MDC mamas!!

See here: http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...d.php?t=236600 for an announcement of GMA's forthcoming apology tomorrow (Fri.) and here: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=235694 for some of the backstory.


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## mum2 4 (Feb 20, 2004)

Interesting-most of us seem to think human milk falls into the "body parts" regulations and these cannot be sold.
Human milk has been used for a vareity of reasons for centuries and now that the federal govermnet is promoting it as every baby's birthright, they need to make some adjustments in supply issues. If milk banks were as available as blood banks and donating as popular, the government motto "that every baby was born to be breastfed ( or fed from the breast)" could be a reality.
Its going to take some doing to make that happen but why not?
WE used donor milk for 9 months after adopting a frail foundling. It had been ten years since I last bf so it took awhile for my milk supply to develop again.
We used a lact-Aid supplementer and surplus milk from many LLL friends as well as 2 large donations from "strangers". I saw the healthy baby of a 600 ounce donor and his doctor gave him and Mom a clean bill of health. A 200 ounce donor was donating to an NICU for her premie and I figured if the hospital was ok with her milk, I could trust it too.
Buying milk from e-bay without testing clearence would be risky indeed.
Sharing with even a friend can also pose risks unless Mom has a clean bill of health and should not be done lightly.... Those of us who want to give our babies the best, such as the Mom who has had a double mastectomy and is now receiving donor milk for a second child, know that this may have risks but so does using formula as recently we learned that 14% of pdw formula is contaminated. I imagine the TV show did not mention that fact...


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