Several months ago, I wrote about an episode of Fox medical dramedy House where a cancer patient asked for a prescription for breast milk because he thought he could get the insurance company to pay for it. And as some commenters pointed out, there is indeed a black market for the liquid. Now one woman in England is happily telling the world about her burgeoning breast milk business.

The woman, a 26-year-old mother to an infant son, said it all began as a joke — her friend said she was lactating so much she should sell the excess on the web — but after feeling the financial pinch of being a new mom, it began to become more serious.

She explains to the Daily Mail:

Because I’d only been in my job for a few months before I gave birth, I wasn’t entitled to full maternity pay… My baby’s father is still on the scene but we’re not living together and he doesn’t have the means to support us financially.

The new mom, who says she always makes sure her child is well-fed before freezing any extra, began advertising her product on the classifieds site Gumtree.com.

She’s been charging around $22 per 4 oz. of milk, and her biggest single sale thus far has been 12 oz.

Even though her ad has since been pulled by Gumtree because it “contravened our listing rules,” the mom says she intends to keep on pumpin’.

“I’ll certainly continue selling my milk for as long as is possible, and if I had a second child I would do the same,” she said. “But next time I think I’d use an electric pump, as it’s much quicker.”

Mother produces so much breast milk that she is selling it online – at £15 for four ounces [Daily Mail]

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