Kim Kardashian made headlines in 2015 when she revealed she’d be eating her placenta after giving birth to son Saint, but seeing as she’ll welcome her third child via surrogate, things will be different.
“I had great results and felt so energized and didn’t have any signs of depression … Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good,” Kardashian, now 36, wrote on her website in December 2015.
When it comes to eating a surrogate’s placenta, Joni Lucarelli — the woman who helped Kardashian turn her placenta into pills in 2015 — told Page Six she “wouldn’t advise that because there’s no data to back that up of being a benefit or being safe.”
But for the surrogate herself, consuming her placenta can help with lactation.
“In some cases, the surrogate works out the deal prior to being pregnant. The family might have in their stipulation that the surrogate is pumping milk for the baby,” Valerie Rosas, the owner and encapsulator at The Feel Good Company, where placenta is turned into pills, told us.
Out of her 1,300 clients, just two have been surrogates.
“It would be beneficial for the surrogate if the surrogate is having to pump,” Rosas said, noting that placenta is rich in oxytocin, which can aid in the production of breast milk.
Even if the surrogate isn’t giving providing breast milk, eating the placenta could still benefit her, Andrey Lemon-Pryor, the owner and founder of Lemon & Honey Doula and Birth Services in Los Angeles, told us.
“Taking the placenta helps with energy. It could help with fatigue, help manage moods and help with hair loss,” Lemon-Pryor said.
However, all the perks that come with placenta consumption will cost you. Lemon-Pryor points out that in the Los Angeles-area, the going rate for placenta encapsulation is $300.
“There’s two methods of encapsulations, TCM — traditional Chinese method — where you steam the placenta with lemon and ginger or herbs first and then encapsulate it and the raw method, where you take the placenta as it is and you clean it, slice it, dehydrate it and encapsulate it,” she said.