Rich develop taste for breast milk
A lingering cultural belief in the benefits of breast milk as an elixir is leading wealthy Chinese adults to hire wet nurses to provide them with daily doses of it, according to media reports.
Young mothers, mostly from poor rural areas, are being recruited by an agency in Shenzhen, in the southern Guangdong province, to produce breast milk for rich Chinese who believe it carries health-boosting properties.
Lin Jun, the manager of the Xinxinyu Household Service Company, a domestic help agency, told the Southern Metropolis Daily that his ‘‘adult nanny’’ clients included wealthy couples from Hong Kong and overworked company directors.
‘‘Breast milk is the best tonic, especially for those people who have just undergone major surgery,’’ Lin was quoted as saying. ‘‘If it is required, the customers may feed directly from the young mothers’ breasts . . . but they can always drink it from a breast pump if they feel uncomfortable.’’
Lactating mothers are hired by wealthy families for six to eight months and can earn up to 16,000 yuan (NZ$3300) a month, vastly more than a factory job. Attractive nurses and those in good health can command higher prices, Lin said.
China has a tradition of wet nurses for the imperial and upper classes dating back centuries, with Pu Yi, the subject of Bernardo Bertolucci’s film The Last Emperor, suckled into his teens. Chairman Mao later banned the practice as decadent.
Demand among wealthy parents for wet nurses for their babies was fuelled by a 2008 scandal over melamine-tainted baby formula which killed six infants.
For rural women, becoming an ‘‘adult nanny’’ offers the chance to earn a huge sum in a short time, but China’s one-child policy means that most would only be able to carry out the work once.
One 25-year-old mother was quoted as saying that she chose to become a nanny rather than give her milk to her baby son to pay for his education and supplement her husband’s wage of 2000 yuan a month.
Li Haifeng, an associate professor at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said: ‘‘Breast milk can nourish the internal organs and it is noted that toothless old people can drink it to prolong their life.’’
Mainstream doctors disagree, however, saying that it could cause stomach upsets in adults as well as spread disease. Gu Zhongyi, a nutritionist at Beijing Friendship Hospital, said: ‘‘Breast milk is not a good choice for adults . . . it has globulin to help improve babies’ immunity, but adults do not need to build their immunity.’’
A donation bank for breast milk in Guangdong, aimed at helping sick children, has reportedly had difficulty finding donors since it opened a month ago.