Dear Friends,
Thank you for the warm welcomes, especially after  my posted questions,
which some might consider outrageous.
To introduce myself, I am one of the founders of La Leche League and
during the past 43 years of helping mothers to breastfeed, I have seen
everything from pcbs, rh blood factor, jaundice, mammary cancer virus,
hepatitis and tuberculosis identified by experts as reasons to not
breastfeed.
In all those situations human milk was eventually vindicated, but only
after thousands of babies and mothers were deprived of the benefits of
breastfeeding.
When it comes to hiv/aids you can't start investigating all the  data
out there without quickly becoming aware that there are sharp
differences of opinion among researchers.  Some of them even question
whether hiv itself is infectious, pointing out there is not one study
confirming that hiv causes aids.
Yet it was mainstream researchers  who subscribe to the hiv/aids
hypothesis,  who pointed out to me that the hard science is not there to
prove that hiv virus is transmitted through breastfeeding, and that the
virus, itself, might not be capable of being infectious in breastmilk.
At the LLLI Physicians Seminar this year, Armond Goldman MD,
pediatrician and immunologist at the University of Texas stated that in
reviewing all the studies he was aware of and listening to many talks,
he has yet to be convinced that Koch's Postulates have ever been met,
which would provide the proof that hiv is transmitted by human milk.
We obviously need more research. Yet I've been told that since 1984 the
US government has refused to fund research that disagrees with the
widely accepted assumption that hiv causes aids.
So I enter this discussion on Lactnet, with no agenda beyond the hope
that by engaging in an unbiased evaluation of facts, even when it  might
challenge our present understanding and perceptions, and by raising
critical questions, we might some day get to the answers we need to
provide accurate information to mothers who test hiv positive.
Incidentally, because there is no control group that I know of for
comparison, I have established a registry of hiv+ moms who have chosen
to breastfeed their babies. Names and the information they provide, are
held in strictest confidence.  I will be happy to email a copy of the
questionnaire they are asked to fill out, to anyone who is interested.
More later.

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