Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
Man Plans To Live Entirely Off His Wife's Milk
By
Garth Johnston
Published Sep 21, 2011
Modified Sep 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published Sep 21, 2011
Modified Sep 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The price of milk is rising and interest in human breast milk seems to know no bounds, so you knew it had to come to this eventually: one man has decided to see how long he can survive on a diet consisting entirely of his wife's breast milk. And naturally, he and his wife are blogging their experience. Cause, really, what else are you going to do with a 22-cubic-foot freezer of milk that breast milk banks won't take?
That's a lot of breast milk (Don't Have A Cow, Man).
The story so far: Curtis and his wife Katie, a childbirth and lactation educator, have three children. After their first baby spent time in the NICU Katie got into the habit of pumping milk "religiously every two hours round the clock for fear that my milk would dry up." That left her with a huge surplus of milk which she used to feed her first child while pregnant with her second. Her second child also spent time NICU, and she quickly filled up a 7" cubic freezer with more milk, which she eventually donated. Over six months she gave more than 10,000 ounces of breastmilk to an adopted premature drug baby who was not responding well to formula!
And then Katie got pregnant again, and again the baby went to the NICU. This time they ended up with an even bigger freezer full of the white stuff (right), which sadly no milk banks would take (for various reasons including the medicines she had taken while pumping). So this time they were just going to save the milk for themselves...until they realized they had to move and that the cost of transporting so much lactation would be quite expensive. So Curtis decided to take one for the team and drink the milk, and just the milk, for as long as his body will let him. They just finished day two.
The couple is taking their little experiment quite seriously though, tracking Curtis' weight and calorie intake and watching for any ill effects. Katie's milk has been tested to contain approximately 27-32 calories per ounce and Curtis needs 2,000 calories a day, so he's aiming to down 66 ounces of his wife's product a day. Though the first day he didn't quite make his numbers, he did on the second and boy, hes sure seems happy! In his words: "Hunger is pretty much non existent and manifests itself mostly as thirst. I quench the thirst 16 ounces at a time and that keeps me satisfied from 2 to 4 hours. I feel good, happy on a full belly, and I feel that it should go well. I may even be sad when all the milk is gone from the freezer..."
Sadly, as of now, it appears that Curtis and Katie aren't planning on doing anything else with their milk but they are just at the start of their experiment. We hear ice cream is delicious!
Tagged
breast milk
human breast milk
interesting diets
milk
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
Why NYC restaurants are playing coy about sustainability
Though it has multiple benefits, the practice remains popular for one basic reason: it saves money.
By
Samantha Dady
Published Oct 26, 2026 at 10:01 a.m. ET
Where are the cheapest drinks in NYC? A new report details the city's average prices.
The median price of a cocktail in the city is now $16, and $9 for a draft beer.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Food
Where are the cheapest drinks in NYC? A new report details the city's average prices.
The median price of a cocktail in the city is now $16, and $9 for a draft beer.
By
Hannah Frishberg
North African restaurants are rare in NYC. These 10 are the best.
By
Robert Sietsema
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
By
Robert Sietsema
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .