Adding to the stigma: how black market breastmilk harms patients with BBVs

Dr Sam Elliott

There is a growing number of news stories on the potential dangers of buying and drinking breast milk.

Articles in The Guardian, The Courier Mail, SBS News and Australian Doctor describe a black market for breast milk.

Buyers are seeking to source the milk for a range of purposes, from the conventional (infant feeding), to the more obscure, such as fitness benefits or a cure for cancer.

Common to these stories are cautions that breast milk sourced from these unregulated markets carries a risk of disease.