Our Story

Our first experience with milk donation began with our oldest son, Simon. I knew that breastfeeding would be difficult or even impossible for me long before Simon had been conceived. As a teenager I had surgery and was given little hope at that time. As a newly pregnant mother, I experienced no changes in my breasts and I felt it necessary to prepare for the fact that I was probably not going to be able to supply milk for my child.

Having not been aware of all of my options at the time, and realizing after his birth that I did not produce any sufficient amount of milk, Simon was primarily formula fed using bottles. Fortuantely, thanks to the very generous offer of one friend, he did receive some breastmilk early on, but it had never occurred to me then that I could actually get more breastmilk for him. It wasn't until Simon was 2 or more years old that I actually had the thought to seek out breastmilk for my future children. In the beginning, I had hoped to get a couple of months worth at best.

Later I became pregnant with Loren, our second son. It was during my pregnancy with Loren that I began researching milk donation more heavily. As a woman who is highly involved in midwifery and breastfeeding as a career and passion, I knew that I wanted to get as much breastmilk for Loren as possible. I was well aware of the unparalled benefits it offers and I was eager to connect with women that could help make this dream a reality.

When I was newly pregnant I learned about supplemental feeding and adoptive nursing. This gave me hope to know that, even if I couldn't make the milk, I could still feed Loren at my breast. Then later in my pregnancy, I was introduced to Jenn Connell, another mom who sought out breastmilk for her two sons following a double mastectomy. It was Jenn who truly lit the spark in my mind to believe that I could fully feed my children breastmilk even if I couldn't do it alone. And so began my search.

We located donors from a variety of sources...friends, doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, e-mail groups, and this website. Our donors were screened carefully and their milk was primarily shipped to our home and stored in the deep freezer. We chose to pasteurize some milk, but left some unpasteurized from the donors that we were closest with to allow for the full health benefits.

Since Loren's birth, he has been exclusively fed at the breast (using a Lact-aid) with 100% breastmilk! He loves it; We love that we can give it to him; And we love our donors for this generous gift that they have shared with him.! I have been able to get my own milk supply to around 20% and I am quite proud of that accomplishment. I believe that the Lact-aid has helped to maximize my supply. I am also told that some moms in my position find that their supply increases with each pregnancy, so I am hopeful that I might even someday produce as much as 40-50%.

Loren is now 7 months old and still nurses constantly, occassionally taking some solids. He is nursed with the Lact-aid 6-7 times a day, but also takes the breast without the supplemental feeding several times per day. He is growing strong, has never been sick, and is crawling everywhere. We are very proud of our decision to feed him breastmilk and mostly we are grateful that other mothers have made this possible!