Jade Biddle is one of a growing number of mothers choosing to sell their breast milk on the internet.
She only started advertising a month ago but she's already
getting at least two inquiries a day.
The 22-year-old from Leominster, Herefordshire, got the idea
after watching an interview about the issue on television.
"It was in my head from there," she said.
"I thought about donating it to a hospital but there was a
screening process and I didn't want to go through that. So I
thought 'if I've got it spare, why not?'"
Miss Biddle researched the going rate on the internet - £2 per
ounce - and posted an advert on Only The Breast.
The website is branded as "a community for moms to buy, sell
and donate natural breast milk." It brings buyers and sellers
together but does not sell any milk itself.
Shortly after posting the advertisement, Miss Biddle made her
first sale - £60 for 30 ounces - and gave out her address for it
to be collected.
"It was a man in his 50s/60s," she said.
"He knocked on my door and said 'I am here to buy the breast
milk'.
"I invited him into the kitchen and asked if he had a cool box.
He bagged it up and gave me the money."
Miss Biddle, who gave birth to her son Noah seven months ago,
said most of the email inquiries came from men.
She said there had been a mixed reaction from friends and
family to her sideline money-maker.
"When I brought it up with my friends they initially thought it
was weird," she said.
"They said they could not do it because 'you don't know what's
it's being used for'. But as long as it does not involve me I
don't really care."
She added: "I plan to do it for as long as possible. If I am still
going six months down the line when my son is a year old and
I have some spare then I don't see a problem."
Other women who have advertised their breast milk for sale
online include Dawn Croxson, from Dorset.
She said: "At first I wasn't in agreement with it because I
thought 'you shouldn't charge people for their babies in need'
but then.... I thought they're not really in need of it so I thought
in that case it was OK to try and sell it".
Meanwhile, another mother of one said she posted her
advertisement after hearing stories about parents who had tried to buy breast milk over the internet and later discovered what
they were buying was not real.
The 24-year-old from Nottingham, who asked to be known only as Natasha, said: "We have done it in the hope that we can help someone who desperately wants it."
She said the milk - on offer for £1 an ounce - was sitting in her
freezer and it made sense to offer it to people who might need
it.
But, despite only posting the advertisement a month ago,
Natasha said she was already having second thoughts because
the majority of her inquiries had come from men wanting the
milk for health reasons.
"The idea was to help mothers and families, not to help guys
lose weight or achieve other health benefits," she said.
Healthcare professionals have said there has been an increase
in buying breast milk online by fetishists, bodybuilders and
cancer patients but warn it could be harmful to people's health.
Tests on 12 breast milk samples bought online for a BBC
Inside Out investigation found four contained E.coli, two of
them contained candida, which causes thrush, and one
contained pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria linked to the
death of four babies in neonatal units in Belfast in 2012.
A Food Standards Agency (FSA) spokeswoman said selling
breast milk online was not illegal. But she said civil action
could be taken by local authorities if it was proven it had not
gone through the necessary safety checks and this could result
in fines.
"The FSA clearly advises against the consumption of breast
milk, especially if it has been purchased over the internet," she
said."
Businesses would need to prove the milk had been collected
and handled hygienically and the product is free from harmful
viruses and bacteria. The FSA's view is that it would be very
difficult for a food business to demonstrate the safety of such a
product."
She said councils could take action if they found businesses
were selling products that were injurious to health.
"While food hygiene regulations cannot prohibit the sale or
supply of human breast milk, retailers or websites supplying or
selling breast milk products will need to ensure they are safe
for consumption."
No-one from Only The Breast was available for comment.
source: www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34467613
Cc: Lalasticlala

Ok

Lol, the English must be tired of their bland food & need something sweet in their life. This lady is not the 1st one, another one was baking cupcakes made with breast milk. They sure need the calcium though because most of them have horrible teeth

'

Well,good development for women who'd never breast feed out of fear of saggy bo.obs . At least breast milk from a foster-mother will aways be better than cow milk... May actually reduce the number of rascality inclined folks who inherited their insanity right from birth from the cow IMO.

V