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New Trend in Mommy Jewelry: Breast Milk Pendants

By Makini Brice | Update Date: Apr 11, 2013 12:20 PM EDT

Parents have long devised ways to commemorate forever their children's young days. Many have drawers filled with old Mother's and Father's Day cards or clipped off locks of babies' hairs. Many pregnant women have gone so far as to make pregnancy casts, which create a sculpture based off the mom-to-be's belly that can then be painted and decorated. However, all of those trends are old news. The newest trend in parent memorials is breast milk pendants - and yes, they are exactly what they sound like.

According to Philly.com, the leader of this movement is Alicia Mogavera. Hailing from Rhode Island, her Mommy Milk Creations turns women's breast milk into jewelry. Describing breast feeding as the "one of the hardest yet most rewarding things [she'd] ever had to do", she says that she is a perfectionist, so the jewelry will result in something that she would buy herself. As she writes on her website, "When you purchase Breast Milk Pendants from me you can be positive that they will not discolor, turn yellow or spotty. I have perfected a special technique and others cannot offer this same guarantee."

Time magazine reports that the service costs $64 to $125. Using a multi-step process, Mogavero hardens a sample of breast milk from customers; molding it into one of various shapes, like moons or flowers; and sets it in a pendant. The products are sold on Etsy.

According to the Daily Mail, the Rhode Island mother has received quite a bit of success for her enterprise. Mothers around the world send their breast milk to her - currently, her backlog is so large that expecting customers can see an eight to 10-week wait for their jewelry.

Mogavero is hardly the only person with such a service. On Etsy.com alone, one seller, Hollyday Designs, claims to have invented the process and has performed it for about 10 years. Another merchant, milkmombaby, sells a kit that will allow mothers to make pendants of their breast milk themselves for the DIY set.

In fact, there is quite a market for products containing breast milk - like cheese, ice cream and soap.

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