HMBANA milk banks charge a processing fee to offset the costs of pasteurization and shipping, BUT no mother is refused milk because she is unable to pay. Low income infants with medical need receive free service. The difference between the Prolacta model and the HMBANA model as far as I can see is that Prolacta sells the processed milk at a profit, and HMBANA banks ask for cost sharing. Therefore, the ultimate cost for the consumer has to be much higher for Prolacta's milk. My concern for the Prolacta model is that donors might not understand that their freely given milk is becoming someone's profit generating product. There seems to be a relatively small pool of potential milk donors, and it would be a shame if the HMBANA banks, which serve mothers who are unable to pay as well, were to lose donors because of Prolacta's greater resources. I don't begrudge anyone the ability to make an honest living, but I do think that these factors need to be very up-front in all discussions with potential donors. Sandy, You say you help new mothers succeed at breastfeeding. What services do you provide? How are mothers referred to you? Are you setting up an unfair sense of obligation in your potential donors by giving this help? Have you taken the Federal government's certification on the treatment of human research subjects? I think that the ethics of human research applies to your business model (though you are not doing research), and that you might want to look into it, especially the parts about ensuring that subjects/donors are not under duress to participate. Even positive feelings of gratefulness can constitute duress. I'm hope you read this in the spirit that it is written, with highest concern for mothers and babies. Thank you for being so willing to discuss these matters with the lactation community. Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC NYC *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html