Hello,
My name is Natalie Smith, and I am a nursing student at Ivy Tech Community
College of Indiana. I am studying maternal-newborn nursing this semester,
and one of the topics discussed in our lecture class is breastfeeding.
Laura Shanley wrote an article (available at
http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/milkmen.html) describing her
husband's personal experience with lactation. He decided to try using "power
of the mind," to convince his body to begin lactating. For about a week, his
breasts produced milk. Deeming the experiment a success, he "willed" his
body to quit lactating, and within another week the letdown subsided.
Mrs. Shanley notes that several male animal species, including Dayak fruit bats
in Malaysia and tomcats in Russia, breastfeed their offspring. The article also
mentions several other occurrences of human male lactation, including a
homosexual couple who adopted a friend's child. One of the men successfully
breastfed his child for eight months.
The Guardian magazine posted an article online (see
http://www.guardian.co.uk/parents/story/0,3605,1506843,00.html for the
complete story) about an entire African tribe, the Aka pygmies, whose
mothers hunt and set up camp and whose fathers care for the children and
breastfeed them full-time.
The website suite101.com is campaigning for homosexual couples looking to
breastfeed their children. The program is called "Male Wet Nurses Wanted,"
and its focus is gay surrogacy and male lactation. Complete details are
covered at
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/gay_parenting_families/77524.
I have always thought that it was the mother's role to breastfeed. Honestly,
I had never even heard of male lactation until I accidentally ran across an
article discussing it while I was doing basic research on lactation and
breastfeeding. I have looked through the archives and have read previous
posts regarding this subject, but I wanted to hear some more current opinions
on this topic.
Has anybody here come across any cases of "breastfeeding fathers" recently?
Is this a common but secretive occurrence? Is it even a good idea? I have
read that if the mother cannot fully supply the infant's breastfeeding needs,
then it might not be a bad idea for the husband to supplement her. I have
also read that this is a physiologic disgrace to women--breastfeeding is their
role, and now men are trying to take over that, too. What do other people
think about this?
Any information or further discussion would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Natalie Smith, Ivy Tech Nursing Student
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