Human Milk

This week at work I was sorting thru a lesson I was giving to an expectant mother. And I came across some information for a "Human Milk Bank". I wanted to make sure that the information was correct and up to date, so I visited the site. Indiana Mother's Milk Bank

Getting ready to lactate myself, I was curious. How does this work? Can anyone donate? What if you need it? Do you have to buy it? Upon delving further into this site, I found the very extensive "Donor Selection Criteria" Most of the things on this list I thought were all very good ideas. Must not use nicotine. Have a negative HIV test. No illegal drugs. Good things.

Some I thought were funny, like, no sexual contact with anyone who had gotten a tattoo in the last 12 months, Incarceration or incarceration of sexual partner for more than 72 consecutive hours in the last 12 months. Am I way off base, or is that funny?

Now, one that I still find strange:
Since 1980 spent time that adds up a total of 5 years in Europe (includes Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

And stranger still:
Born, lived in, traveled to, or sexual contact with someone in any African country since 1977

If I would have known that trip to Kenya would have thrown me out of a breast milk donating pool, I may have re-thought the whole thing.


On a side note, how do you guys feel about "Human Milk"? Would you purchase it through a bank? Would you accept it from one of your friends? Would you donate to a bank? Would you donate to one of your friends? And the biggest question of all: would you breast feed someone else's child?