http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/wet-nurses-join-chinas-luxury-list/2006/12/04/1165080878886.html
Wet nurses join China's luxury list

Justin Sparks, Beijing
December 5, 2006

LUXURY cars, yachts and diamonds are commonplace for China's
super-rich, but a new status symbol has been added — the wet nurse.

The practice of infants being suckled by women other than their
mothers was branded decadent by Mao Zedong and stamped out by postwar
leaders.

But in the booming cities of the east coast, the moneyed classes are
no longer constrained by their communist overlords and are harking
back to the past excesses of their ancestors. Pu Yi, the subject of
the 1987 film The Last Emperor, was suckled well into his teens.

A wet nurse is a status symbol and young mothers are being lured by
the promise of up to eight times their existing salary to breastfeed
offspring of the rich.

"At first I had my doubts, but the money convinced me," said a wet
nurse known as Madam Gu. "Now I earn five times more than the 1000
yuan ($A163) a month I used to get from the trading company I worked
for."

A college graduate, the 28-year-old joined the household of a Shanghai
family several months ago. After leaving her newborn baby with
relatives, she had to provide test samples of her breast milk and
undergo a medical examination.

In addition to producing high-quality milk, the new breed of wet
nurses are often required to emulate their imperial predecessors by
displaying refined manners and reciting Ming dynasty poetry. Even
their diets are strictly prescribed, including traditional herbs and
medicinal dishes.

But if the infant fails to grow by at least 20 grams a day, fines are
docked from their wages.

Jianping Li, 32, a businesswoman who intends to hire a wet nurse when
she gives birth next year, said: "Wet nursing is more about the
changing needs of modern life than ancient slavery."

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