Woman Slammed For Demanding Breast Milk From Her Younger Sister To Make Soap

People are attacking a woman online after she asked her sister for 12 ounces of breast milk to make soap for her unborn baby, becoming “furious” when her sister refused.

The post, titled, “AITA for not giving my sister breast milk for her unborn baby,” has been upvoted 5,500 times since it was shared in the subreddit “Am I The A**hole” on May 8. Redditor @Temporary_Brush_3752, who is a 31-year-old female, has a 6-month-old baby who is her second child.

Although not conventionally used, breast milk soap is a real thing, and there are recipes with do-it-yourself options available online.

However, The Daily Meal reported that doctors advise that the process of making soap ends up destroying the nutrients in the breast milk anyways, and only soap is left.

According to Romper, Michelle Maffei of All Parenting told the publication, “unless you are using your breast milk or are getting the milk from someone you trust, the person supplying milk could be in poor health and passing on impurities or diseases like strep or staph.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that breastfeeding is the “best source” of nutrition for the majority of infants. Plus, it can reduce the risk of some health conditions. Benefits of breastfeeding for infants include the reduced risk of asthma, obesity, type 1 diabetes, severe lower respiratory disease, ear infections, and more.

The mother revealed she had some difficulty nursing with her new baby, and she is “exclusively pumping milk” for her child, adding she pumps for 20 minutes, four times a day.

“Side note: Pumping totally sucks (no pun intended),” the original poster (OP) said. “I feel like a cow and have been experiencing ‘nursing aversion’ (BAA), which basically means I get a surge of negative hormones every time I start lactating, and I get super angry.”

The woman’s older sister had “trouble” trying to conceive, but she’s now six months pregnant with a girl. She’s been busy preparing for something she’s dreamt about for years according to the poster, and around a week ago she asked her sister for some of her breast milk to make soap for her child.

The OP continued: “She read something about caring for sensitive newborn skin and is worried her daughter will inherit her own skin issues (nothing medical, just very sensitive). She wants 12 [ounces] of milk. For those who don’t know, that’s so much breast milk. Like, two entire meals for my son, and [it] takes two entire pumping sessions to produce.”

The Redditor revealed that because she hated confrontation, she waited a couple of days to decline the request for her milk, adding that she needed it to feed her child. However, her sister was “furious” with her over it, and she even complained to their mother and their other sister about how the OP is “being selfish and unsupportive” with “her miracle pregnancy.”

Over 900 comments poured in over the viral situation, and people are backing the OP while at the same time slamming her sister. One comment received 9,900 upvotes on its own, and the Redditor didn’t believe the OP is at fault.

“Uh, your sister can use her own breast milk to make soap,” they added. “What in the world? Some women struggle to make enough milk to feed their own babies. She’s being self-centered and entitled.”

One Redditor didn’t mince words, adding the OP isn’t a “cow.” They also said, “NTA [not the a**hole], If she wants to make soap from milk, your sister can buy some milk from a health food store. Or she can buy specialty soap.”

It was a hard no for another Redditor, who relayed the OP wasn’t at fault. “No way,” they said. “She’s more than likely just experiencing the first-time mom panic, but you don’t have to accommodate her needs and ignore your own.”

While another user could understand “sharing” the milk if the child “needed it for nutritional purposes, but soap? You are not in the wrong on this one.”

A Reddit user insisted the milk was the OP’s for her baby, and that her sister needed to “get over it,” adding, “You’ve said you’re having trouble with feeding. It’s not being selfish or unsupportive at all. If anyone’s being selfish it’s her. There are health food stores that she can go to.”

The situation was shocking for some to read. “Seriously?” a Redditor question. “NTA whatsoever! How would someone even think that it would be OK to get upset because someone doesn’t want to pump milk for their unborn child’s soap? Smh.”