Meet Julie Dennis, A Nursing Mother Who Made $20,000 From Selling Her Breast Milk Online

A 32-year-old Florida-based Nursing mother Julie Dennis reportedly made close to $20,000 from selling her breast milk online to strangers.

She made more than seven million in Nigerian Naira from selling breast milk, As bizarre as it sounds, it is real, reported dailymail.co.uk. She was quoted as saying, “I spend hours a day hooked up to my pump daily which is time away from my family.”

Why Did Julie Dennis Sell Her Breast Milk?

It wasn’t Julie’s plan, but something came up which made her come with the idea of using what she has to get what she wanted.

After giving birth to a surrogate baby in August 2019, she came up with the idea when the baby she had given birth to for another couple turned six months old and no longer needed her breast milk.

Julie, an entrepreneurial lady, who was cash-strapped at the time started collecting her breast milk which she sold for 90 cents per ounce to other families whose new babies who also born via surrogate and not willing or unable to provide their own milk.

“I didn’t have a baby to provide milk to after the first six months. I was compensated for that and once I was done I started advertising milk on Facebook where I found another family,” she said.

Julie said she filled up her freezer twice a month and ship it out in an ice box with lots of ice packs inside and ship it out overnight.

“For the first six months or so I just used it in addition to my income from work to pay bills and manage my household.”

Julie Describes The Milking Process As a Full-Time Job

To the primary school teacher, the milking process was like a full-time job for her, despite the backlash her idea got from the public and some of those around her. She isn’t perturbed.

It is a simple business idea, saying she has a perfectly good uterus and perfectly good milk “so I may as well use it” stating that “It’s not completely money-oriented, but I make sure it’s worth it for me and my family.”

Julie Dennis said that she got comments that shame her for asking for compensation for her time spent pumping, “because a lot of people think it’s free for me to make so why would I charge for it.”

A Time-Consuming Process

The mother of two said the milking process, cleaning, bagging and sterilizing all the pump parts between each use was time-consuming, saying she was surprised that people were expecting free breast milk.

She said, “’Even charging one dollar per ounce I get paid less than minimum wage once you add up all the time spent on it.

“That’s not to include replacement of pump parts every six to eight weeks, the cost of bags, the cost of the sterilization units and four different pumps that I use” saying “It is a lot of work to exclusively pump and it is a labour of love.”

How She Store The Milk

Describing how she made that amount, Julie said she provided milk for two babies up until their one year mark, charging 90 cents per ounce.

Human milk is more expensive than any formula you can think of because it has natural antibodies.

According to her, she pumps 15,000 ounces of milk per month, stores it in her freezer and ships it across the country in an icebox filled with ice packs.

Though not the one selling break milk, “There are a lot more people advertising than there are people buying,” she said.

She had to completely change her diet so as to produce rich milk that will suit the needs of a baby she was providing milk to.

Grownup Men Bought Her Milk

She also revealed that some men placed orders who want ‘proof’ that the milk is actually hers.

“They usually request videos or pictures which is absolutely unacceptable. I have always just blocked people once a request like that is made,” she said.

She said the opportunity made her save for a rainy day, “I haven’t done anything cool with it unfortunately just built a little savings account.”

Julie Dennis’ confidence might just open the door of opportunities for women across the world by using what they have to legitimately get what they want.

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