LADIES: Don't sell your breast milk to raise money for Xmas and New Yr Shopping.

Of all the ways to make a quick buck this holiday
season, selling your breast milk online seems to be
a bit farfetched – and yet, there is a British mom
out there who is doing just that to pay for Christmas
presents.
The mom, who is 26 years old, reports that she is
selling her breast milk at $20 per 5 oz. bottle, and
has raked in a total of $4,750 so far. You can
certainly buy a lot of presents with that kind of
dough.
Most of her clients seem to be chefs, body builders
and mothers looking to supplement their own milk
supply for their newborns.
I think that this story is both sad, and potentially
dangerous. First, it saddens me that no matter
where we are in the world, the economy continues
to hurt people around the globe. It only becomes
more obvious during the holiday season when many
parents scramble to load up on extra work in order
to bring their families some well-deserved joy and
presents for Christmas.
I think that no matter what the statistics show
toward economic recovery, the average Joe in
America is not seeing any benefit whatsoever. The
only profits that seem to be showing any positive
results are corporate rather than individual
earnings.
Second, it is a dangerous practice to be selling and
buying breast milk online, and I’ve warned on this
topic before. Although there are services that
provide breast milk for purchase, the unregulated
practice of selling it without proper documentation
could be a risky business.
I am specifically talking about issues like infection
control. There are many diseases that can be
transmitted via breast milk like HIV and Hepatitis B
and C. If the milk is not stored or processed
properly there is also the risk of bacterial
contamination. If ingested, the contaminated breast
milk can lead to significant debilitating conditions
like diarrhea, fever and possible death.
So, while I feel for this young mother, assuming that
her goals are noble, I have to caution on this
practice as a way to make quick buck – because it
could potentially make for a very sickly Christmas
for someone else.
Dr. Manny Alvarez serves as Fox News Channel's
Senior Managing Editor for Health News. Prior to
this position, Alvarez was a FNC medical
contributor.
Follow Dr. Manny on Facebook.