Karen, this is exactly the analogy I use!  It occured to me when trying to
explain to my medical colleagues why I donated breastmilk, that donor
breastmilk is like a donor kidney -- expensive, a hassle sometimes, and
not preferable to a native kidney, but ensuring better overall health than
dialysis.

It's also useful when people counter with the anecdotes they know of
babies who did poorly breastfeeding/great with formula feeding or the
worries they have with donor milk.  Sure, there are patients who will get
very sick from renal failure, or not tolerate a kidney transplant, but
overall, those patients are healthier than the chronic dialysis patients.
That's why we do transplants.

(It helps that my research mentor is a transplant surgeon!)

Shannon McElearney, MD
University of Virginia

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