Milk Banks, Milk Kinship, and Islam. Food Restrictions among the Child Population in Barcelona

Abstract

Human milk, beyond being perceived as food, is a biological bodily fluid capable of generating imaginaries which can be used for the construction of identities and relationships among individuals in the case of flowing and being shared. Taking this premise into consideration and having as reference a group of Moroccan Muslim women living in Barcelona, "‹"‹in this article we will analyze how in transnational contexts, and from this kind of milk kinship established by Islam, there is a widespread refusal to accept milk from a milk bank in the event that the biological mother could not breastfeed her own baby. This food restriction for the newborn, which can be incomprehensible among the Catalan health system, is mainly due to the fear that many women have regarding the fact that through ingesting "anonymous" milk, their son or daughter could start a new (milk kinship) relationship with an unknown person.