Why Is Human Milk Donation Absent From the Literature on Philanthropic Giving? The Invisible Female Donor and Her Invisible Gift

Abstract

In this research note, we call attention to human milk donation being essentially omitted from the philanthropy literature and bodily gifting research. We focus here on human milk donations for infant feeding through nonprofit milk banks. We argue that its omission is due to two main factors: (a) the incoherence of defining human milk donation and the challenges to its regulation and (b) its consideration as care work and the characteristics of the milk donor identity. We end with avenues for future research in this area.