Kate wrote:
"I would not be offended if a friend of mine or relative nursed my child; I
would be honored."

This sounds lovely.  However, I personally would be unwilling to allow
anyone  to nurse my child without knowing the health status of every sexual
partner of her current sexual partner(s)?  Our personal communities are
much larger (and paradoxically, much smaller)  now than  ever before.
People can circle the globe in days, allowing viruses and bacteria to
spread like never before.  Many people have many sexual partners. [Witness
the story of the woman who has contracted herpes.  I'm sure she is afraid
to think of what else her husband may have given her after his little
indiscretion!]   A small traditional community where diet and health status
is similar is a very different from the average community today.

The only kind of cross-nursing I personally recommend these days is the use
of donated human milk from a certified milk bank.

Cindy, Cape Cod, MA, USA
who has just picked up a bunch of messages after a few days off-line--sorry
to post so many replies in a row!