Chris,
It is my understanding that monetary compensation for a donation of
breastmilk would be prohibited by US law.  Some *for profit* blood/plasma
collection sites get around this by stating that they're paying the donor
for his/her time to come in and donate (not for the donation of the bodily
fluid).  Certainly milk banks could play that game too.  Off hand my *guess*
would be that the increased cost of paying donors would make banked milk
less accessible rather than more so.  I also think Dr.s and recipients may
be less trusting of a system by which the donor is compensated.  All and all
I find it difficult to believe that UNacceptable donors (i.e. drug addicted
mothers, HIV + moms, excess coffee drinkers or smokers) would be flooding
sites attempting to make donations, BUT I think that is a media-hyped fear
others have.

Dawn Martin
Austin, TX  home of the Mothers' Milk Bank of Austin

> I've often wonder what paying milk donors would do to the system we have
> right now?   How do others feel about this and at what level should/would
it
> be?  I'm not saying how I feel one way or another....just asking and
trying
> to think of ways to overcome the "shortage of the precious commodity" as
> Barbara so aptly put it.
> --

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