“He asked if I would be interested in selling him my breastmilk.”
It was this sentence that kicked off a US investigation into body builders and CrossFit exercise fanatics purchasing breastmilk to improve their health.
Rebecca, a Seattle mother (pictured above) was at a local grocery store when a man approached her and asked if she breastfed her daughter.
“He lingered for a minute and you could tell he was a little nervous to ask, and then he asked if I would be interested in selling him my breast milk,” said Rebecca.
“I just sort of looked at him strangely and said ‘I don’t think so, but if you need breast milk they have milk banks for that – to make sure babies get milk’ and he said ‘Oh, no it’s for me. I’m doing bodybuilding and CrossFit.'”
US media outlet KOMO contacted more than 20 CrossFit gyms, bodybuilders, and other fitness centers to learn more.
Their search wasn’t turning up any new leads until they found online forums like Onlythebreast.com.
“We found classified ads for men buying breast milk,” says the reporter.
“During our search, we learned some men, however, are using breast milk sharing websites to fulfill a fetish. Several go as far as requesting a ‘wet nurse’.”
Their investigation turned up one woman named Rowse who has sold her breastmilk to adults.
“I just find that they’re very secretive. Even when they call me their numbers are blocked. They just don’t want to be seen or known,” she said.
Online ads show prices for breast milk varies from $2 to $5 an ounce. Since Rowse’s son was born, she’s made $700 – money she said has gone into a college fund.
