I recently asked Ty, an Oklahoma mother and donor to the International Breastmilk Project to tell her story about becoming a breastmilk donor. Here is her story.
"My name is Ty (Tanya) and I am mom to almost 4 year-old Evan and 10 month-old Isabella (Izzie).
During my year of nursing Evan, I threw out 8 freezer shelves full of milk after the milk bank I contacted said they were full. It broke my heart to do it. I would usually ask my husband to throw it away for me. Once I just left several large ziplock bags out on the counter for a few hours so that I could tell myself it was bad anyway and had to be thrown away.
I had already thrown out several shelves of Izzie's milk before my cousin called. She was very excited because she'd heard about a program that would send my milk to Africa to babies orphaned by AIDS.
About ten years ago I worked in the AIDS field for several years. During that time my best friend Paul (and countless other friends) died from the disease. When I heard about the International Breastmilk Project I was speechless. I thought immediately of a woman I had known who was HIV positive when she gave birth to her baby (who was not infected). She shared with me that she felt cheated because she could not nurse her child without risking infecting the baby through her breastmilk. Suddenly I imagined a baby without breastmilk or a mother to feed it. I knew that I absolutely wanted to be a part of this program.
As time went on, I realized just how much of a personal impact donating milk has on me. I have been excited for a long time for another friend who is involved in a trial for an AIDS vaccine. After contacting IBMP and starting the donor process I burst into tears when I realized that I had actually been jealous of him because he was able to help fight the effects of AIDS with his own body. Now, thanks to IBMP, my body has joined the fight! All that milk will have a use, and those precious babies will have more of a chance."
Are you a breastmilk donor with a story to tell? Email me or leave a comment below. On this blog you'll find more information on both the International Breastmilk Project and the issue of Breastfeeding and HIV (update based on new research coming soon). For a list of U.S. and Canadian milk banks, see the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.
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