As a Muslim with ties to Tunisia, I was especially interested to read this
post about milk relations.  Dr. Newman doesn't mention it specifically, but
what he is referring to is the *Islamic* concept of children becoming related
by nursing from the same woman.  What is important to realize here is that
Islam does not say that one singular nursing makes a child related to the
woman.  Most schools of Islamic thought say five and some three nursings are
required to be deemed related to the woman.  Yes, there really are cases where
young men and women have almost become married only to realize that they were
both nursed by the same woman in infancy.  Great care is taken to ensure that
they were not nursed more than two or four times (again, depending on the
school) or else they cannot be married.

As for the milk bank question, I would think that if the identity of the donor
could be preserved with the milk at the time of use, it should be a relatively
simple administrative matter to keep track of those names.  Alas, Muslims
believe that Allah knows best in all things and, when it comes to saving a
child's life as with milk bank usage, matters of future matrimonial problems
are of little consequence.

Tammy Gharbi, [log in to unmask]