The topic of selling breast milk has become quite a hot subject, especially now that articles detailing how women like Gretty Amaya have earned more than $2,000 from selling her breast milk, as reported by the New York Times. According to the publication, Amaya sells the extra breast milk left over after she pumps enough liquid to feed her baby — and companies like Prolacta Bioscience are the ones that buy the breast milk. Although Prolacta only began paying people for their breast milk in 2014, the company was criticized for not clearly stating to folks that the milk they donated previously was being sent to a for-profit company.
Indeed, a search around the Prolacta website uncovered lots of information about donating breast milk to various milk banks, with links to applications for those interested in the process to fill out and see if they make the cut. Uncovering the payment information for breast milk donations was a bit more difficult, however, the “ Will I be paid for my donations? ” question on the FAQ page of Tiny Treasures Milk Bank, operated by Prolacta Bioscience, details exactly how much women can expect to be paid for their milk per ounce.
“You will be compensated $1/ounce for every qualified ounce of milk that you donate, beginning from the FIRST shipment. Please see the donor agreement for additional information. Reimbursement is for time and effort. Milk volume is used as an indirect measure of time and effort for milk donation. Milk volume will be as determined by Prolacta, in its sole discretion. Prolacta will weigh the milk, at the time and in the condition that it is received at Prolacta’s facility, and calculate the volume based on measured weight, excluding any packaging materials, using Prolacta’s standard operating procedures.”
Not only is breast milk a boon for babies who need the nutrients, including premature babies who benefit from the highly-concentrated “white plasma” of the liquid gold, as it is called, athletes are also using breast milk instead of steroids in order to bulk up their muscles naturally, reports KING5.
Although selling breast milk can seem like a big blessing for mothers able to pump more milk than their own babies need, along with benefiting other infants in need, there is controversy over whether the practice exploits low-income mothers , says Salon. When a competing company called Medolac Laboratories announced in 2014 that the firm desired to purchase milk from women willing to sell their breast milk in Detroit , they were criticized for trying to profit from minorities.
As reported by the Inquisitr , breast milk has become quite a controversial subject, especially the practice of bodybuilders buying it from online sources with dubious safety records.
[Image via Voicechronicle.com]