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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Chow Milking Mothers

Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, May 25, 2011 at 2:55 PM

The site looks a lot like craigslist, except instead of selling used cars and like-new Ikea furniture, Only the Breast deals in human breast milk. There are hundreds of posts from new mothers eager to turn their surplus into profits. Many kick off with a chirpy headline (“Chubby baby milk machine!”), then follow with a snapshot of their own robust infant and lush descriptions (“rich, creamy breast milk!” “fresh and fatty!”), making a primal source of nutrition sound like a New York cheesecake. The posts are additionally categorized to appeal to a variety of milk seekers, based on a baby’s age (from 0 to 12 months), say, or special dietary restrictions (dairy- and gluten-free). There’s also a sort of “anything goes” section for women willing to sell to men. Some ship coolers of frozen milk packed in dry ice. Others deal locally, meeting in cafés to exchange cash for commodity. The asking price on Only the Breast runs $1 to $2.50 an ounce. (A 6-month-old baby consumes about 30 ounces a day.)

You know what I'm thinking? I'm also thinking about this. And, why not, this also comes to mind. All of this thinking is NSFW.

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Comments (19) RSS

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ok fucker how about some NSFW tags.

Posted by yourmom.com on May 25, 2011 at 3:00 PM

I pumped extra milk and gave it to a friend of mine who was nursing at the same time and having supply problems. That said, at only 2.50 an ounce I never would have bothered if it was just for money. It takes a while to pump and god knows a mother has enough to do with a small baby to take care of.

Posted by teamcanada on May 25, 2011 at 3:04 PM

What's NSFW? Looks OK to me. Maybe you're just weird.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on May 25, 2011 at 3:07 PM

That all looked remarkably SFW.

As a former lactator, I had such an abundant supply that I sometimes dumped it down the drain. Had I known that there was a market for it, I'd have been selling off the surplus. Alas, my babies were pre-internets.....

Posted by catballou on May 25, 2011 at 3:15 PM

This mostly reminds me of the end of The Grapes of Wrath.

Posted by seandr on May 25, 2011 at 3:19 PM

Where are our outraged vegans?

Posted by svensken on May 25, 2011 at 3:32 PM

@6: Try the outraged feminist department. They're 2 floors up.

Posted by seandr on May 25, 2011 at 3:38 PM

Thanks for your thoughts Charles!

@7, why am I not surprised that outraged feminists and outraged vegans would be on the same floor?

Posted by Tingleyfeeln on May 25, 2011 at 3:40 PM

@8: For now, anyway. I've heard rumors of a re-org.

Posted by seandr on May 25, 2011 at 3:50 PM

@ 4, I'm interested in knowing your reasons for thinking the first link was SFW.

Posted by Matt from Denver on May 25, 2011 at 4:08 PM

anything to think of natalie merchant.

Posted by Max Solomon on May 25, 2011 at 4:09 PM

@6 - By what logic would vegans be upset about human breast milk?

Posted by Soupytwist

on May 25, 2011 at 4:28 PM

$30-$75 a day to feed your baby? Holy shit.

Posted by gnot on May 25, 2011 at 4:28 PM

Gluten-free breastmilk? Give me a fucking break.

Posted by suddenlyorcas on May 25, 2011 at 5:01 PM

People still work as wet nurses here (south China), for the equivalent of 600 USD per month.
Those images may be safe for work, but they're fucked up.

Posted by Phil H on May 25, 2011 at 6:10 PM

fyi: Charles made a post over two years with the image of that four breasted woman being milked:

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…

I don't think this thread will get as many comments.

Posted by stinkbug on May 25, 2011 at 6:11 PM

@6 and 12: I actually wonder about that too sometimes. Would vegans consider it okay for an adult to consume human milk that they purchased from an enterprising mom? Does it taste good in coffee? Is it safe for the lactose intolerant? The fact that I even think about these things might be a sign that I have too much time on my hands....

Posted by Sea Otter on May 25, 2011 at 10:06 PM

B.C. Women's Hospital in Vancouver runs a milk bank, where women with excess milk can donate and women with high risk or ill babies can get milk if they aren't getting enough. It's all pasteurized and screened. It's a great service and, I believe, the only one in the region. Free for patients of the hospital.

Posted by Gabriel

on May 25, 2011 at 11:05 PM

@14 People have legitimate gluten problems, where have you been? Intolerance, allergies, celiac disease. I think the last estimate I saw was 20% of the population is effected by one of these things. Babies are no exception, and yes I've seen that for myself. I happen to have gluten free breastmilk because I have a gluten intolerance. If I were to sell it, why not let others know that it's gluten free?

Just because it sounds silly because you have no experience with it doesn't mean that it is. It's just that you're ignorant.

Posted by Kayla P. on May 26, 2011 at 12:36 PM