My heart goes out to Cathy Liles , her colleagues, and the family who
struggled with a baby they denied was doing poorly. Yes, it must be difficult
to have to face the fact that a mother's own milk, which in most moms grows a
vigorous, beautiful, chunky baby, could "fail" this family. I can't help
thinking that it would be at least a bit easier if more milk banks and donor
moms were accessible. If a mother knew that she could supplement her vegan
baby with milk from a vegan mom it may have been less traumatic. This
situation meant that not only did this mom have to admit that her own milk
was, at least temporarily, inadequate , but that there was no philosophically
acceptable milk available, ie. donated milk from a mom who shared this
woman's philosophy. Whether for health or ethics reasons, this family shunned
dairy. They had to let go of their dream to nurture their baby with it's own
mother;s milk AND give up the dream to keep this baby dairy-free, as a
consequence of mom's own BODY not 'fulfilling' its potential., then they had
to give up the dream of a human baby getting only human milk. No wonder this
is difficult! With AIDS and other blood-borne ilnesses today, is there any
hope of donor milk replacing the need to use chemically formulated
concoctions for mothers and babies in need? This scenario makes me wish I had
been encouraged to donate some of the copious supplies I had for my little
ones. Talk about "the gift that keeps on giving!"Judy Fram, Brooklyn, NY