No, I am not going to argue the merits of formula vs. breast milk. Don't worry. There are plenty of places on the internet where you can find impassioned and often heated arguments about that. I have a lot of personal opinions about it (are you surprised?), but I'll spare you.
Rather, I'm just going to tell you all about this great organization that I am excited to have found. This may seem a little weird- as are most things I write about, ha!- and just like anything else I am writing about it to normalize it and present it as an option for anyone who is thinking about it or knows anyone who might be interested.
The organization is Human Milk 4 Human Babies (HM4HB). What they do is facilitate relationships between mothers who want human milk for their babies and mothers who have extra milk to give. They aren't organized in the swap, it's just a meeting place (online) for mothers. They have some recommendations and tips for milk-sharing but there are no contracts, no profit, no formal agreements, nothing. They are just a resource.
As far as the donor-recipient relationship, it is as casual or as formal as the two parties want it to be. The burden lies on the recipient to decide how much information she wants from the donor- information like disease info, diet, alcohol and drug use, etc. She can be as limiting or as inclusive as she wants. For someone like me (a donor) there is no risk- I just post that I have milk available and people can vet me all day long in order to decide if I'm the right fit for them. There is no fee involved and no payments accepted, but "donations" have been worked out between mothers, such as the recipient donating a box of breast milk bags to the donor every so often. The mothers can meet at a mutually-agreed upon location or at their homes. They can become friends, or remain complete strangers.
I understand that at first this might seem like a pretty radical idea. I've done a lot of reading on milk-sharing and co-nursing so I'm really comfortable with the idea, and personally feel like when it is an option and it's FREE that- in my opinion- it is a pretty radical notion to give a baby milk from a farm animal instead of perfectly wonderful milk from a human being that you can meet and interact with. I also believe that women are capable of making safe choices regarding the sharing of milk from another human being.
I am donating milk to a wonderful mama of twins (she had a surrogate so is not making any of her own milk). She lives nearby and her babies are just a month older than Dylan. Obviously this isn't necessary but I think it's really awesome that our babies are approximately the same age. Why? Because breast milk has the amazing capability to change and adapt over time to fit the baby's needs at a certain age. More or less fat, more/less protein, more/less of certain enzymes, etc. So it's reasonable to assume that the nutritional needs of my baby and her babies are closer than say, my baby and a 6 month old baby who is eating solids. I think it's a great match.
I have been feeding Dylan, of course, and also pumping about 100 ounces a week for the twins to supplement the surrogate's milk. I'm glad to help! The family is so grateful, as they have been able to stop supplementing with formula.
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