Christine Maggiore, the breastfeeding HIV+ mom, was articulate and compelling. There are serious rumblings about the direction of HIV/AIDS research and I doubt there is consensus on Lactnet. But the question for me is, why would we presume to judge or control this mother? Is it because we think we can? If we question the moral decision this mother is making for her children, we should surely question the ethics of choosing artificial feeding. The tricky part of the second question is deciding who makes the decision to artificially feed? The mother, society, or the cultural relationship of the two? I loved the bit where Christine is shown on the phone saying someone from social services is coming to the door, and then we see the door open. (For those who haven't seen it, the social worker who has the power to remove the child, leaves the child in the home. Later there is touching footage of Christine nursing her son in bed, his body wrapped around hers.) Perhaps the moral here is, before you flaunt your controversial life in public, marry a filmmaker. Perhaps there's a tip here for anyone with a camcorder. Valerie writes: "Why has our breastfeeding community accepted this situation?" I noted with great interest that as of 7/4/01 La Leche League International no longer makes a recommendation regarding an HIV+ woman's decision to breastfeed. The press release can be found at: www.lalecheleague.org/Release/HIVandBF.html ... and is worth reading. The next time I am asked about the subject, I will hand out a copy of this statement. The decision to have or not have a breastfeeding relationship with a child is enormous. The decision to curtail the relationship is also sobering. If only all mothers took this decision as seriously as Christine when faced with their own dilemmas. The day's posts included one mother's choice to wean for a month's trial of flagyl and another's choice to wean for a vacation. We all make choices. Life in the U.S. means we are surrounded by women who choose every day to artificially feed. I have yet to see one highlighted on 20/20 or 60 Minutes, faced with the health stats, and forced to explain herself. To paraphrase Christine, if one woman stands up in a sea of people chanting the earth is flat, to suggest that the earth may be round, she is considered wrong simply for holding the minority view. I hope Lactnetters will check out the ABC News website & post an opinion. A live chat with Christine Maggiore is planned for Monday 2:30 pm EST. I believe 20/20 includes response to shows on subsequent broadcasts. Perhaps someone could post the URL. Susan Johnson MFA, IBCLC __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html