*If you think that you may be interested in donating milk in the future, you can go ahead and do all the paperwork and bloodwork without actually comitting to donating. My process took over a month before I actually sent in the milk, and in the meantime my frozen stash took over the freezer to the point where we didn't have enough room for our frozen food and everyone had to get real creative with storing food that needed freezing. If I had to do it over again I would have definitely started the process much sooner, before I was certain that I had enough to donate.
*When choosing a milk bank, make sure you do the research on where the milk is going. There is a company out there called Prolacta Bioscience that turns human milk into a product and sells it for a profit and several so called 'milk banks' sell the milk they recieve to Prolacta. The milk does not actually go to babies in need. When in doubt, donate to any of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America banks (HMBANA).
*Apparently some milk banks have stricter policies on donor milk, things like washing your breasts before each pump session, how soon you have to refrigerate or freeze your milk, how to clean your pump etc.
* The IRS does not allow a deduction for donating any kind of human tissue. However, you can deduct mileage you incur in your volunteer efforts as well as the cost of your breast pump. (from Milk donor FAQs )
*Alternatly you can donate milk directly to a recipient over websites like Human Milk 4 Human Babies, Eats on Feets, Milkshare.org or even try to sell it on sites like Only the Breast. Most moms will want to know about your health and diet and want to see your test results for certain diseases (and rightly so). I did this while waiting for the official donation process, just answering ads instead of posting. However this will not let you claim any expenses as a tax deduction.
my timeline:
May 31: Contacted milkbank.org and was referred to a closer Mothers Milk Bank and subsequently contacted them. Was asked a series of health-related questions.
June 1: Received the medical history forms and consent forms needed to become a donor (each milk bank is different) over email. I had to sign a consent form, fill out all my information and Thumper's information, and answer a lot of health-related questions. I also had to have my OB and Thumper's pedi sign forms saying that, to their knowledge, my milk was suitable for donation and donating wouldn't negatively effect Thumper.
June 7: Dropped off forms for OB and pedi (my OB was on vacation till that day) Found out that they had to mail the forms back to me and that it took about a week for mail to make it out of the mailroom.
* The IRS does not allow a deduction for donating any kind of human tissue. However, you can deduct mileage you incur in your volunteer efforts as well as the cost of your breast pump. (from Milk donor FAQs )
*Alternatly you can donate milk directly to a recipient over websites like Human Milk 4 Human Babies, Eats on Feets, Milkshare.org or even try to sell it on sites like Only the Breast. Most moms will want to know about your health and diet and want to see your test results for certain diseases (and rightly so). I did this while waiting for the official donation process, just answering ads instead of posting. However this will not let you claim any expenses as a tax deduction.
my timeline:
May 31: Contacted milkbank.org and was referred to a closer Mothers Milk Bank and subsequently contacted them. Was asked a series of health-related questions.
June 1: Received the medical history forms and consent forms needed to become a donor (each milk bank is different) over email. I had to sign a consent form, fill out all my information and Thumper's information, and answer a lot of health-related questions. I also had to have my OB and Thumper's pedi sign forms saying that, to their knowledge, my milk was suitable for donation and donating wouldn't negatively effect Thumper.
June 7: Dropped off forms for OB and pedi (my OB was on vacation till that day) Found out that they had to mail the forms back to me and that it took about a week for mail to make it out of the mailroom.
June 18: Got the forms in the mail, mailed them to the milk bank.
June 20: Got confirmation from the milk bank that all forms were recieved, and the next step was the blood test. They mailed out the information and forms for me to go in to a lab to get my blood tested
June 23: Got the forms for the blood test.
June 28: Went in to the lab and got my blood drawn. Got a funny look when I said it was for milk donation.
July 5: Got telephone confirmation that my bloodwork was fine and the go-ahead to donate, and requested a cooler to ship my milk in.
July 7: Cooler arrived with the airbill, didn't have time to pack the milk for pick-up that day (it was a Thursday), and they told me not to send out the milk on a Friday because no one would be there to pick it up over the weekend.
June 20: Got confirmation from the milk bank that all forms were recieved, and the next step was the blood test. They mailed out the information and forms for me to go in to a lab to get my blood tested
June 23: Got the forms for the blood test.
June 28: Went in to the lab and got my blood drawn. Got a funny look when I said it was for milk donation.
July 5: Got telephone confirmation that my bloodwork was fine and the go-ahead to donate, and requested a cooler to ship my milk in.
July 7: Cooler arrived with the airbill, didn't have time to pack the milk for pick-up that day (it was a Thursday), and they told me not to send out the milk on a Friday because no one would be there to pick it up over the weekend.
July 11: Called FedEx for an afternoon/evening pick-up, asked them to knock on the door to pick up (instead of leaving the cooler outside all afternoon). Totally failed in giving them a rough estimation of how heavy the cooler would be since I hadn't packed it yet (but that wasn't a
problem, more like a lolme). Packed the milk in the cooler with some crumpled newspaper insulation and waited for pick up. Guy came, picked it up.
July 12: Got telephone confirmation that my milk arrived safely and in excellent condition (all still frozen). Yay! I have freezer space again.
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