On Family, Fieldwork, and Liquid Gold

ABSTRACT

In this essay, I story my discovery of breastmilk markets and my subsequent fieldwork and research program in the milk banking industry. I discuss how my experience growing up as the oldest of six children and daughter of a Labor and Delivery nurse foregrounded my curiosity and commitment to the organization of donor milk. I then use concrete research poetry to convey the political conditions that gave rise to this industry. In response, I reflect on the contrast between my childfree identity and the lived circumstances of milk donors/recipients by pondering the shared consequences of pronatalist and disciplinary discourses. Finally, I note the importance of community knowledge of milk banking (regardless of parental status) and offer questions to inspire further research in health communication.

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge Dr. Daniel C. Brouwer of Arizona State University, who we tragically lost this year. Dr. Brouwer shepherded the very earliest versions of this work in his Rhetoric and the Public Sphere doctoral seminar, and its success would not have been possible without his edifying mentorship. We will grieve the loss of his brilliant presence, queer being, and kind soul for years and years to come.

Notes

1. Nonprofit milk banks are accredited by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) and obtain donations through community collection sites. Mother’s Milk Bank, one of the largest nonprofit milk banks in the U.S., has 74 collection sites across 23 states with more in development (Sakamoto, 2017).

2. Could such discourses help explain why I was unaware of the modern milk banking industry despite my family background and longtime familiarity with related topics? This is something I continue to mull on and write about.

3. As argued in Jones and Tracy (2021), “Unless one’s circumstances of birth and breastfeeding support (or lack thereof) necessitate participation, people have the outsider’s privilege of not having to know, navigate, or think about any aspect of the topic, which carries immense community consequence. The obfuscation of breastmilk donation harms precisely those who could benefit from it.”