We've discussed the International Breastmilk Project here before: the  
flaws in that particular model of international aid and so on have  
been gone over.

We have also discussed the ethical issues involved in the  
appropriation of altruistically-donated milk for profit and for  
intellectual property research.

I'm interested to know if there is any transparency in the IBP  
process: specifically, what exact proportion of donated milk so far  
has been shipped to Africa and provided free to children who require  
it, and what proportion has been sold for profit within the USA and/ 
or used for proprietary, for-profit patent research. And whether  
there is any transparency in this process intended for the future.

The site does not illuminate me, but it does raise very strong alarm  
bells. The FAQ appeared to me to very carefully skirt the issue with  
these two questions:

"Q.  	How much of my milk goes to Africa?
A. 	Some of your milk goes to babies in Africa and some of your milk  
stays here for critically ill babies in hospitals. Exactly how  
depends on how much you send and how much room is left in our shipment."

"Q.  	Does anyone in Africa have to pay for the milk?
A. 	Absolutely not. The milk is free to all orphans in Africa. We  
raise funding here through small financial donations, sponsors,  
partner organizations and t-shirt sales. We also partner with Run for  
Africa to help raise funds."

http://www.breastmilkproject.org/donate_milk.php

When I clicked the Become a donor link, it flips me not to this IBP  
FAQ but to the Prolacta FAQ and consent, and requires me to sign this  
Prolacta release before continuing:

"As a volunteer donor, you hereby waive any and all interests in any  
proprietary technology that may result from your donation."

I know there are Prolacta employees here on this list; I ask you,  
please do not respond to this question with any marketing spiels or  
apple-pie platitudes as we have seen here in the past. I am  
interested in a specific response to my question from anyone involved  
in this project or familiar with it.

Thanks

Lara Hopkins

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