Thanks very much Liz. Very helpful. Lois' article on the ethics of donor milk banking is very useful. I found it very interesting though how it conflicts with an (admittedly, much) earlier paper of hers on peer-to-peer milk sharing in which the principles of medical ethics so well described in the 2006 paper are not applied. Is Lois still around? I would like to communicate with her about it.
In my main other professional world (adoption) I come across various others for whom issues associated with donor gametes are at the forefront- most definitely very different from other sorts of organ/tissue donations but I really like the terminology "speculative scenarios"  
Karleen Gribble

Australia

On 06/11/2011, at 10:55 PM, Elizabeth Brooks wrote:

> I'm not sure if there is any **research** on the notion of human milk donor
> anonymity.  Lois Arnold's article on human milk banking ethics discusses
> some of ramifications of giving and receiving milk (Arnold L, The enthics
> of donor human milk banking, Breastfeeding Med (2006): 1:1,3-13.
> 
> The medical situation is not the same, of course, but there is an
> interesting ethical discussion (esp. chap. 2) in the book "Nameless
> Relations" by Monica Konrad,
> http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=p4E4smxFS1wC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=anonymity+of+organ+tissue+fluid+donors&ots=U9SH3Saukb&sig=4RxIfBT-Tuh3-AOb19dvHkXx1H8#v=onepage&q&f=false
> that describes the traditional anonymity of human egg donors as a means of
> protecting the sanctity and conjugal stability of the recipient family
> [translation: two parents are enough, thank you].  Anonymity is seen as
> providing "legal and emotional protection against various speculative
> scenarios."   She also discusses Titmuss' landmark 1970 publication The
> Gift Relationship (in which he argues for altruistic organ and tissue
> donations).
> 
> Egg, tissue, donor and human milk donation are all very different, but the
> ethical and moral quandaries, given the advancement of medical technology,
> make us have to explore perhaps uncomfortable or unfamiliar notions
> involving "various speculative scenarios."
> 
> -- 
> Liz Brooks JD IBCLC FILCA
> Wyndmoor, PA, USA
> 
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