Should a Mother's Milk Be Shared With Anyone Besides Her Baby?

What do a dog named Lily, two chefs, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, John Steinbeck, and I have in common? We all have a story to tell about breast milk!  I know - it sounds crazy...but read on.

My story starts with an email that my husband received from a friend. It is one of those warm-hearted, feel good stories that travel through email circuits like wildfire. This one was in honor of mother's day - very appropriately I might add, containing a link to a clip from CBS news about a Humane Society Adoption Center in Burlington, Iowa that has a very special thing going on. Some poor little kitties had lost their mom (or vice-versa I suppose). The good folks at the adoption center had a problem on their hands - how to feed the kitties?. But then there was Lily - a sweet labrador momma whose puppies had all been adopted away. "So," wondered the Humane Society workers, "why not introduce Lily to the kittens and see what happens?" And what happened was amazing. Well, they always say that fact is stranger than fiction, don't they? Watch this sweet story and see for yourself.

Hearing this story about the sharing of mother's milk sent my thoughts back to when I was a nursing mom (which was quite a good many years ago). I recalled the time I was out shopping with my best friend and our four-month old daughters. Barbara was bottle-feeding Rachel, and I was breastfeeding Emily. I guess we were out longer than we expected to be. Rachel had already drank the bottle of formula that Barbara had brought and now Rachel was crying - I mean REALLY crying - for more. Barbara, a new mother (as was I) became frantic. So, feeling empowered by my amazing ability to not only give birth but to sustain a living creature, I said I would try to nurse Rachel. Unfortunately, unlike the kittens in the ABC story Rachel had no idea what was coming at her or what to do with it, and my valiant offer of my milk was rejected. I think if she had stopped crying long enough she might have figured out what to do.

And then there was the time that I was making cupcakes. I had just creamed the butter and sugar and was about to add the milk and flour. This was when I discovered that there wasn't as much milk left in the carton as the recipe called for. The baby was napping so I couldn't run out to the store. What to do??? I wondered if the cupcakes would taste any different made with human milk rather than cows milk. After all, I had a ready supply of that.

Over the years I've raised this question with friends, wondering what they think of cupcakes made with breast milk. The reaction is invariably one of shock and disapproval. One of the articles I discuss below calls this the "ick" factor. I suppose the average person thinks of using human breast milk in cooking as using "bodily fluids" - not really a pleasant thought. But can we really consider milk to be just another bodily fluid? Is this really the way everyone looks at it? With the wealth of knowledge and opinions available at our fingertips today I decided to do some research on the subject. I found that no, apparently this is not the way everyone reacts.

First I found a website devoted entirely to recipes that utilize human milk. The first recipe listed is .....guess what?.........cupcakes! I've provided the reader with two of the recipes here if for no other reason than the experience of seeing "breastmilk" in the list of ingredients.

THE PUBLIC HEALTH SMOOTHIE

1/2 cup breastmilk

1/4 cup low fat vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup orange juice

1 banana without the peel

1 Golden Delicious apple with the peel, but without the seeds

Sprinkle of walnuts or pecans.

Directions: Blend thoroughly and enjoy.

And you've got to love this one.......

BREASTMILK POPSICLES - FROZEN BREASTMILK ON A STICK

These are very easy to make and fun twist on breastmilk.

You can purchase a single Popsicle mold (that holds 4 popsicles) from the dollar store or anywhere else that you can think of that would carry popsicle molds, ie., Target? Walmart?

After washing and rinsing well, pour expressed breastmilk into the mold and freeze. Thus you and/or partner have a great tasty treat to...suck on.

I googled on, and the next link I found was to an article in the NY Daily News about a restaurateur in Switzerland who was advertising for breastmilk donors for his epicurean creations - dishes like Breast Milk Lamb Curry, and Antelope Steak with Chanterelle Sauce Spiked with Cognac and Breast Milk. As the author of the article quips, his plans "dried up" when Zurich’s food regulatory body and the Association of Swiss Milk Producers intervened and threatened law suits. The creative chef was quoted as saying "I don’t understand all the controversy. The mother’s milk is the most natural thing in the world - how can anyone be against it?" And I say, "Indeed!"

John Kinsella, president of the American Culinary Federation says, "It could never happen in this country - the Department of Agriculture would not allow it."

The next stop on this breastmilk scavenger hunt was the NY Post, where I found the headline "Wife's baby milk in chef's cheese recipe." The first sentence of the article read, "This Chelsea restaurant has gone from brasserie to brassiere," I thought, hmmmm - that's almost as corny as the "all dried up" comment in the Daily News story!

The title of the article speaks for itself. According to Daniel Angerer, chef at Klee Brasserie in NYC, most of the customer response has been favorable. But his wife, Lori Mason, says that they are getting some "creepy queries." Her response is, "I'm not here to walk people through their psychological problems." While the NYC Department of Health has advised against the culinary treats, Ms. Mason thinks they should try gelato next.

The comments following the article were mixed - but mostly on the "ick" side. Here are some of them:

"yuchhhhhh.What's next selling pee pee for non-carb drinks? nyc is going mad."

"IS THIS NOT ILLEGAL?? yuk . YOU cant use human body fluids in your recipes. The restaurant should be fined and checked by the Health inspecter. Dont drink a beer in this joint."

"It's still a mystery to me as to why we humans drink COW'S MILK instead of HUMAN'S MILK. I just don't get it."

"What's next? Sperm in the Creme Brulee?"

"The chef has created a job for women that needs no affirmative action. Excellent!"

"All you folks that buy your milk from the magic machine called a grocery store... needs to realize that all milk comes from breasts, whether it be a cow, goat, or sheep. There is nothing different between human and other animals breast milk (as in dangerous) other then the general creepiness of milking your wife to sell cheese. Ya'll need to visit a farm, see what intelligence your all missing out on."

My search took a slightly different turn, as I left the arena of food establishments and found that animal rights activists have also joined the human milk bandwagon (so to speak). On the PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) Files blog, I found a lively inundation of comments related to a letter that PETA sent to Ben and Jerry's ice cream purveyors. The gist of the letter was that Ben and Jerry's could take a giant step for animal-kind - cows specifically - and save them from the cruelties that are foisted on these gentle creatures by the dairy industry. "How?" you wonder? Oh come one - you must have figured it out by now! Make ice cream from breastmilk, of course!  While PETA meant the message facetiously, only to make their point about animal cruelty, many of their followers got very involved in discussing the pros and cons of such a venture.  

I found a plethora of blogs written by women in several different countries, espousing the benefits of breast-milk. Among those benefits cited are less diarrhea, respiratory and ear infections, allergies, and eczema. Studies have shown that immunized babies that are breastfed have significantly higher antibody levels. Higher cognitive and social development, as well as intelligence are also attributed to breast-milk. Bloggers who feel strongly enough to write about it seem to believe that the logical response to all of these positives is to allow themselves and the rest of their families (if not friends and strangers too) to enjoy the benefits as well. However, there are those on the opposite side of the fence who say that these benefits wane when it comes to adults who, unlike babies, have already developed effective immune systems that are not further enhanced by the relatively small traces of the beneficial elements found in breast milk. An interesting aspect to this is to consider the fact that the healthier the mom is, the more nutritional her milk will be. And of course there is no way to regulate that.

This milky adventure (oh no, did I say that?) started out with the kittens - creatures in dire need of sustenance, and Lily, who did what mothers do - use her God given ability to provide for them. What is so captivating about that story? It is the surprise and wonder that one species would provide for another. And it is just as surprising when you think of it from the opposite angle - that one species would accept and welcome this sustenance from another. We find it amazing.

And yet, as humans, we just about exclusively drink milk from cows. We think nothing odd about that. And what we DO find odd, perhaps even bizarre, is partaking of the milk from our own species. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not advocating anything here. But it's an interesting dichotomy, don't you think?

No, I haven't forgotten about John Steinbeck. Many years ago I read the novel "The Grapes of Wrath." It tells the story of a poor family during the Great Depression who are driven from their home in the "Dust Bowl" of Oklahoma. Drought and changes in the agriculture industry causes them to set out for California along with thousands of other "Okies" in search of land, jobs and dignity. They find some relief for a while there, but when the drought relents the flooding becomes an insurmountable hardship. Although I have not picked up that book in all these years since I first read it, the final scene of the novel is indelibly etched in my mind. Not long after the daughter of the family, Rose of Sharon, has delivered a still-born baby, the family is trying to find shelter from the incessant rain. They come to a barn, and inside are a young boy and his dying father. The boy tells them that his father has been giving what little food there is to him, and is starving to death. The book closes with Rose of Sharon suckling the boy's father at her breast.

Why did this scene leave such a mark on me? It portrayed an act that has always been considered taboo - that might even be thought of by some as perverted. This riveted me. And yet the final conclusion that I came away with was that it was the only right and natural course to take - do what mothers do - just like Lily. At the risk of being corny, it's certainly "food for thought."