this mom should contact Dr. Peter Ellis of the anthropology department at harvard university -- he would probably be able to answer her questions very specifically. i'm sure a search of www.harvard.edu would turn up an email address for him. tell him i sent her, if you wish. it seems to me that oxytocin releases two years post-partum are probably going to be minimal, and i would bet good money that NO ONE has ever studied the effects of breastfeeding on luteal phase length in mothers who are breastfeeding 2 year olds. in other words, most of this doctors base of information probably comes from studies done on oxytocin release and luteal cycle phase length in women nursing young children. just my .02 worth. i wonder if the ivf doctors also tell mothers to be sure not to have orgasms while they waiting for the embryos to implant. i'll bet they don't, even though oxytocin release during orgasm is much higher than during breastfeeding latch-on. finally, if the mom gets no answers, or the doctor insists that she wean before attempting the next pregnancy, my personal (not professional) advice would be to go for the sibling(s). having a life-long sibling or siblings (twins!) will be more valuable to this child in the long run than having another six months or a year (or more) of additional breastfeeding beyond two years. just my .02 worth again, from the queen of extended breastfeeding. kathy dettwyler, not using capitols this morning for no particular reason _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp *********************************************** 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