Breastfeeding isn\u2019t just for women anymore, says a British National Health Services (NHS) trust in a leaked letter<\/a> reported by The Telegraph. Men who identify as women can now take off-label drugs to produce breast secretions that are \u201ccomparable to that produced [by a woman] following the birth of a baby,\u201d according to the trust. This statement comes just months before the ninth edition of breastfeeding nonprofit La Leche League\u2019s landmark book, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, <\/em>is set to release<\/a>. Except this time, it\u2019s only titled The Art of Breastfeeding. <\/em>Just forget the word \u201cwomanly\u201d was ever included.<\/p>\n

While La Leche League is no stranger<\/a> to pandering to those who would rather call it \u201cchestfeeding\u201d and pretend that men can breastfeed too<\/a>, the NHS statement is a further confirmation that we have collectively forgotten what it means to breastfeed a child and why it has always been an integral part of early motherhood. This memory slippage began with the advent of commercial baby formulas<\/a> in the early 20th century, which were marketed<\/a> as doctor-recommended and a good solution for women who were \u201creluctant\u201d to nurse their babies. With free formula samples given to women after birth by pediatricians who lacked the practical knowledge of lactation, nearly 70 percent<\/a> of babies in the 1960s and 1970s were fed formula rather than breastmilk. Breastfeeding wasn\u2019t even necessary anymore, isn\u2019t that wonderful<\/em>?<\/p>\n

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It was the brain-<\/a>building <\/a>and healthier<\/a> option, companies claimed, as they pushed their product<\/a> on women in Third World countries who did not have access to the clean water needed to mix formula, leading to the deaths of thousands of infants.<\/p>\n
Formula acts as a sometimes necessary option for mothers who aren\u2019t able to breastfeed, but it\u2019s thankfully no longer touted as the best option. We don\u2019t really push formula on every postpartum mom anymore, as we now have baby-friendly hospitals<\/a> that encourage mothers to breastfeed and new Centers for Disease Control guidance<\/a> that recommends nursing for up to age 2 (or longer!). While there are still social media wars over whether \u201cfed is best\u201d or \u201cbreast is best\u201d and if it causes shame<\/a> to tell women that breast milk is nutritionally superior<\/a> to formula, we\u2019ve pretty much cleared up all of this confusion about how moms feed their babies \u2014 right?<\/p>\n
Health Risks of Male Breastfeeding<\/h2>\n
Not exactly. Enter: male breastfeeding. The NHS trust, La Leche League, and other breastfeeding organizations<\/a> claim that those \u201cassigned male at birth\u201d can all nurse their infants using the help of lactation-inducing drugs. The main medication these trans-identifying men are using is called domperidone<\/a>, which is labeled primarily as a gastrointestinal drug. Domperidone carries an FDA warning<\/a> for its side effects for women who use it off-label to increase their own milk production, as it\u2019s known to cause heart arrhythmias and cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n
We have no concrete data on the side effects it could cause for males who use domperidone, nor do we fully understand the extent to which the drug passes through to a nursing infant. The manufacturer warns<\/a> that some of the drug does pass into the milk supply of a mother using domperidone and does not recommend that breastfeeding women use the drug.<\/p>\n
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Though there are side effects of both men and <\/em>women using domperidone to stimulate lactation, there is something especially heinous about a man taking a drug known to cause serious health complications merely to satisfy his selfish desire to \u201cbreastfeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Male Secretion\u2019s Ingredients<\/h2>\nUnknown side effects of off-label drugs aren\u2019t the only risks facing infants who are\u00a0\u201cnursed\u201d by males. There\u2019s also the question of what exactly these breast secretions even are. <\/em>Male breast tissue contains no lobules<\/a>, which are the glands that produce milk in female mammals. Men also have extremely low levels of prolactin<\/a>, the hormone necessary for milk production. Male bodies just aren\u2019t designed to breastfeed an infant like female bodies are \u2014 a fact that is obvious to all of us who took sixth-grade biology.<\/p>\n
Trans activists often point to the few case<\/a> reports<\/a> done on the subject when they claim that trans-identifying men are able to nurse. These reports are extremely limited in scope, with the 2018 report giving zero nutritional analysis of the breast secretions of the male studied. It simply says that he produced eight ounces of \u201cmilk\u201d while taking the cocktail of domperidone plus synthetic estrogen and progesterone.<\/p>\n
The more recent study analyzed the breast secretions and found<\/a> that the \u201cmilk\u201d from the male is within reasonable ranges for calories, lactose, and protein, but had nearly double the amount of fat as true breastmilk. Increased levels of fats fed to young infants can result in obesity and diabetes<\/a> in later life, making the macronutrient balance of the male breast secretions inappropriate for a newborn. Researchers didn\u2019t even test to see if the substance produced by the male contains any of the multitude of vitamins, minerals, immunological properties, probiotics, and hormone growth factors found in breastmilk<\/a>, which have far-reaching benefits beyond just calories.<\/p>\n
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In addition, both the 2018 and 2023 reports also say that the male patients could only produce eight ounces or less of milk per day, which does not meet the needs<\/a> of a nursing infant even a week after delivery, let alone for his entire first year of life.<\/p>\n
Despite this mountain of evidence, the NHS trust still tells us<\/a> that there is virtually no difference between male and female breastfeeding. Men are only able to produce a tiny amount of nutritionally inappropriate breast secretions that have unknown properties due to the off-label drugs needed to stimulate lactation, but sure, they can breastfeed too.<\/p>\n
Mother\u2019s Bond<\/h2>\n
While we\u2019ve come a long way<\/a> from the vast majority of women believing that they don\u2019t need to breastfeed because formula is the superior and easier choice, we\u2019ve also lost a core element of what makes breastfeeding so beautiful: the innate bond it grows between a child and her mother. <\/em>La Leche League might want to scrub this word off its books, but breastfeeding is truly a \u201cwomanly\u201d act, at its very essence. There is nothing more womanly than an act that only a woman can perform.<\/p>\n
Though a devoted father might harbor some jealousy when his wife is receiving all of the love and affection from their newborn as she nurses \u2018round the clock, he ultimately sees the mother of his child nursing as a beautiful display of her feminine love for their child. He realizes that a mother and a child are not only meant to have this intricate attachment during the first months of life but also actively supports the burgeoning bond between mom and baby.<\/p>\n
Today, women who want to breastfeed their babies know they can produce a living food<\/a> that beats formula in countless ways<\/a>, as our knowledge of the superiority of breastmilk has grown significantly since the early 20th century. Instead of having to contend with deceptive formula companies<\/a>, we now have to convince people that only women \u2014 not men \u2014 can breastfeed. Thankfully, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a very difficult proposition to accept.<\/p>\n
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