Mom goes online to sell breast milk

[pecan]

Canada continues to breast best the US in new on-line business ideas




Mom goes online to sell breast milk

By Jason Halstead, QMI Agency


Winnipeg mom Sara Wiens is looking to move gallons of surplus mother’s milk via the online marketplace.

(MARCEL CRETAIN/WINNIPEG SUN)

A Winnipeg mom is looking to move gallons of surplus mother’s milk via the online marketplace.

With a freezer full of breast milk she’s been stocking away since her four-month-old son’s birth, Sara Wiens is now looking to offload it after she found out her son Simon cannot drink it.

He has an allergy to cow’s milk protein and is unable to drink his mother’s breast milk produced during the period when she still was consuming cow’s milk. The toddler can now consume his mother’s milk again as she has cut dairy products from her diet.

“I know lots of people who would have loved to have breast milk for their children — women who aren’t producing enough or aren’t producing at all,” said the mother of two. “If someone can use it, that would be great.”

Wiens has put the milk up for sale on Kijiji — a classifieds website — and is fielding offers. She said there is no set price for the milk but hopes to cover the rental of the breast pump and other costs incurred, likely somewhere between $200 and $500.

“Compared to formula, it’s a lot cheaper and a lot better,” Wiens said.

Breast milk banks exist in Canada, but there is no such facility in Winnipeg to which a mother could donate milk. Wiens said she’d have to cover costs to donate the milk to a bank in Vancouver.

“People have also suggested I send it to Haiti but I don’t know for sure that it would clear customs and it would cost thousands of dollars to ship it,” she said.

Wiens said she is uncertain of exactly how much milk she has available but said there are at least several gallons stored in her freezer. She estimates the milk represents at least a three-month supply, depending on the size and age of a baby.

As of Monday, Wiens said she had received five inquiries about her breast milk. She remains confident she’ll find a buyer.

“I just hope someone buys it before it reaches the end of its freezer life,” she said.

The bagged milk is all separately dated and Wiens said the first of it may have to be discarded by early spring.

Wiens said the milk is not pasteurized nor tested for disease or bacteria, so she understands people’s apprehension. “There has to be that trust there that I’m not sick,” Wiens said.

Wiens said she has heard of people selling breast milk for as much as $8 per ounce — far less than she’s hoping for. “I could retire if I sold it for that much because I have gallons in the freezer,” Wiens said.

jason.halstead@sunmedia.ca

[Queen Macoomeh]

haven't had the time to sit and figure out why yet but my first reaction was a shudder...

[Mr Fix-it]

Canada continues to breast best the US in new on-line business ideas




Mom goes online to sell breast milk

By Jason Halstead, QMI Agency


Winnipeg mom Sara Wiens is looking to move gallons of surplus mother’s milk via the online marketplace.

(MARCEL CRETAIN/WINNIPEG SUN)

A Winnipeg mom is looking to move gallons of surplus mother’s milk via the online marketplace.

With a freezer full of breast milk she’s been stocking away since her four-month-old son’s birth, Sara Wiens is now looking to offload it after she found out her son Simon cannot drink it.

He has an allergy to cow’s milk protein and is unable to drink his mother’s breast milk produced during the period when she still was consuming cow’s milk. The toddler can now consume his mother’s milk again as she has cut dairy products from her diet.

“I know lots of people who would have loved to have breast milk for their children — women who aren’t producing enough or aren’t producing at all,” said the mother of two. “If someone can use it, that would be great.”

Wiens has put the milk up for sale on Kijiji — a classifieds website — and is fielding offers. She said there is no set price for the milk but hopes to cover the rental of the breast pump and other costs incurred, likely somewhere between $200 and $500.

“Compared to formula, it’s a lot cheaper and a lot better,” Wiens said.

Breast milk banks exist in Canada, but there is no such facility in Winnipeg to which a mother could donate milk. Wiens said she’d have to cover costs to donate the milk to a bank in Vancouver.

“People have also suggested I send it to Haiti but I don’t know for sure that it would clear customs and it would cost thousands of dollars to ship it,” she said.

Wiens said she is uncertain of exactly how much milk she has available but said there are at least several gallons stored in her freezer. She estimates the milk represents at least a three-month supply, depending on the size and age of a baby.

As of Monday, Wiens said she had received five inquiries about her breast milk. She remains confident she’ll find a buyer.

“I just hope someone buys it before it reaches the end of its freezer life,” she said.

The bagged milk is all separately dated and Wiens said the first of it may have to be discarded by early spring.

Wiens said the milk is not pasteurized nor tested for disease or bacteria, so she understands people’s apprehension. “There has to be that trust there that I’m not sick,” Wiens said.

Wiens said she has heard of people selling breast milk for as much as $8 per ounce — far less than she’s hoping for. “I could retire if I sold it for that much because I have gallons in the freezer,” Wiens said.

jason.halstead@sunmedia.ca

Man what sites yu does be on man LOL.....

[Bitter]

This ides isn't as unreasonable as it first seems. If you can get past the concept of a wet nurse, then this is just the high-tech version.

Of course, animal milk is such an accepted thing we don't think twice about it. But essentially, you get a cow or goat or camel or yak or buffalo or whatever pregnant and then take the milk that would normally be destined for the calf, and in some cases, feed it to a baby (Mostly Soy these days, though).   

The shudder factor comes from our socialization. Where we are, cow's milk more acceptable to us than Camel milk?

[JDB]

.

Wiens said the milk is not pasteurized nor tested for disease or bacteria, so she understands people’s apprehension. “There has to be that trust there that I’m not sick,” Wiens said.

That is the problem right there. Breasts banks test all milk for diseases and pathogens. It would take a really irresponsible parent to buy milk from this lady. She should just dump the milk and move on.

[Queen Macoomeh]

This ides isn't as unreasonable as it first seems. If you can get past the concept of a wet nurse, then this is just the high-tech version.

Of course, animal milk is such an accepted thing we don't think twice about it. But essentially, you get a cow or goat or camel or yak or buffalo or whatever pregnant and then take the milk that would normally be destined for the calf, and in some cases, feed it to a baby (Mostly Soy these days, though).   

The shudder factor comes from our socialization. Where we are, cow's milk more acceptable to us than Camel milk?

No, my shudder has to do with the fact that I don't know this lady from Adam and yet she wants me to feed her milk - which may be loaded with her specific errors and diseases - to my child. A faceless, internet milk vendor? NAH. My children are too much a part of the air I breathe to take that chance.
Wet nurses also make me shudder.
Nothing to do with society...everything to do with my instincts.

[pecan]

This ides isn't as unreasonable as it first seems. If you can get past the concept of a wet nurse, then this is just the high-tech version.

Of course, animal milk is such an accepted thing we don't think twice about it. But essentially, you get a cow or goat or camel or yak or buffalo or whatever pregnant and then take the milk that would normally be destined for the calf, and in some cases, feed it to a baby (Mostly Soy these days, though).   

The shudder factor comes from our socialization. Where we are, cow's milk more acceptable to us than Camel milk?

No, my shudder has to do with the fact that I don't know this lady from Adam and yet she wants me to feed her milk - which may be loaded with her specific errors and diseases - to my child. A faceless, internet milk vendor? NAH. My children are too much a part of the air I breathe to take that chance.
Wet nurses also make me shudder.
Nothing to do with society...everything to do with my instincts.

same sentiments ...

When I donate blood, I have to answer a range of very personal questions during the screening process.  To buy milk off Kijiji, you have to be mad  - not knowing the health of the person and the conditions in which the milk was expressed (did she use a sterilized pump in a sterile environment or did her husband help she?) and subsequently stored is asking for trouble.  How do you know if the cold chain was broken .i.e if the current gorne and the milk thawed then was re-frozen etc.  Too many uncertainties.

Madness

[dinho]

her execution might be poor... very poor...

but if done correctly, under properly certified conditions you have to admit there is a business opportunity here.

[Queen Macoomeh]

her execution might be poor... very poor...

but if done correctly, under properly certified conditions you have to admit there is a business opportunity here.

speaking about this person specifically who has been 'stocking away milk'...I truly do not see a business opportunity.

[dinho]

her execution might be poor... very poor...

but if done correctly, under properly certified conditions you have to admit there is a business opportunity here.

speaking about this person specifically who has been 'stocking away milk'...I truly do not see a business opportunity.

not speaking about this person specifically, speaking about selling it online in general.. if you can link with clinics or people with the proper infrastructure and pay them a fee for storage and sell breast milk online, then it could happen..

not because you won't buy it don't mean there are others that wouldn't see the value in it.

[fari]

as a man with a wife who just give birth i can understand that this woman want to get some sort of recompense for having to go thru all the trouble she  thru to pump this milk (is a rigid schedule dem oman does keep) BUT...who de arse in dey right mind go buy dat milk when it so easy to get formula (cow milk and soy)

[Queen Macoomeh]

speaking about this person specifically who has been 'stocking away milk'...I truly do not see a business opportunity.

not speaking about this person specifically, speaking about selling it online in general.. if you can link with clinics or people with the proper infrastructure and pay them a fee for storage and sell breast milk online, then it could happen..

not because you won't buy it don't mean there are others that wouldn't see the value in it.

[/quote]

...but I am and can, only speak for myself. Not sure if the other ladies weighed in on this. But as a mother, and a rabid one at that...I wouldn't touch it nor recommend it.
To me, it is like the sperm banks. You might suggest your wife to use it if you are unable to provide. I doubt my husband would and I know I would not use the service, no matter how clean and clinical.