Adult breastfeeding is a booming market in China, but, unfortunately, some are taking the already taboo practice one step further by adding sex to the list of services. Fifteen people have been arrested this week in China on prostitution charges over their alleged involvement in a website that offers both breastfeeding and sexual favors to paying adults.

In China, the belief that breast milk has healing properties has led to an increase in the practice of adult breastfeeding, the South China Morning Post reported. Lactating women will often offer these services via specific websites, but according to The International Business Times, a recent police investigation caused the shutdown of one such website after it was found that its owners only offered regular work to women who were willing to offer sexual services in addition to breastfeeding. The website communicates with potential clients via instant messaging apps and provides photographs of mothers for clients to choose from. The ring was uncovered after an undercover journalist arranged to be breastfed via the website and reported being offered sexual services in addition to the milk, the report stated.

Human breast milk has become a new luxury for China’s rich. Adult wet nurse services are more popular than ever, providing milk for not only newborns, but also the sick and the rich who believe that the milk has the best and most easily digestible nutrition.

Breast Milk Benefits

Breast milk does have many healing properties. For example, as reported by Medical Daily, human breast milk can be used to treat both ear and eye infections when applied topically. This is due to the abundance of natural antibodies found in the milk. It’s also reported that these same natural antibodies can assist in healing a sore throat and sooth a skin irritation. According to Discover Magazine, there has also been research on breast milk providing a possible defense against cancer.

However, while the benefits of breast milk have been observed, the use of wet nurses for adults is controversial issue due to the questionable moral aspects of the practice. Some feel that paying new and often poor mothers for their breast milk is not only degrading for the women, but also a disgrace to the concept of motherhood. Also, in order to have enough milk to feed to adult men, many new mothers will go without feeding their own young.

“This adds to China’s problem of treating women as consumer goods and the moral degradation of China’s rich,” said Cao Baoyin, a writer and regular commentator in various Chinese media, on his blog, the South China Morning Post reported.

Others feel that there is nothing wrong with the preference for breast milk, especially if the milk is taken from mothers who have an overabundance. “I want natural stuff that’s God-given, and if it’s OK with moms looking to get rid of it, I’ll take it,” explained “Anthony” a New York-based breast milk enthusiast to NY Magazine.

While paying for sexual favors is illegal no matter how you look at it, the distribution of human breast milk is not only completely legal but also growing in popularity.