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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Analysis of the experiment of induced lactation in a transwoman

52 replies

NeurotrashWarrior · 27/03/2019 06:43

There was a long running thread at the time that this was reported; this is a good analysis of it. The testosterone bit is concerning, as is the other drugs.

lascapigliata8.wordpress.com/2018/03/26/analysis-of-study-of-induced-lactation-in-trans-identified-man/

OP posts:
PackingSoap · 27/03/2019 14:39

This is the key section from the original report.

The patient also was given instructions to use her breast pump for 5 min per breast TID.

(So pumping for a total of fifteen minutes per breast every day)

Then after one month....

her estradiol to 8 mg po daily, and her breast pump use to six times daily.

Then two months after this instruction, this patient is supposedly pumping 8oz a day from pumping for five minutes six times a day per breast, so 8oz in a total of 30 minutes per breast a day, so a total of an hour for 8oz.

This is more oz than I could pump in an hour first thing in a morning, and I had a HH cup post birth, a load of milk, great flow, a hospital grade machine, and was a total freakish outlier in the pumping world.

Pull the other one, it's got bells on. Grin

Ineedacupofteadesperately · 27/03/2019 14:39

Transwomen trying to lactate on a cocktail of untested drugs in order to validate their identity / fulfill a fetish or any other selfish reason is child abuse. This can never be in the infant's best interest.

This. is. child. abuse.

Why are the police (of whatever country) not investigating this experimentation on newborn babies? Terrifying.

Ineedacupofteadesperately · 27/03/2019 14:40

And I get it's probably a lie but it should still be investigated.

PackingSoap · 27/03/2019 14:49

I also find it hilariously ludicrous to suggest that you could exclusively breastfeed a newborn on this volume of supposed lactation for six weeks.

It is less than half the lowest daily intake suggested by research. My dd was on 750ml of breast milk daily as a newborn and she was an average baby.

The whole thing is nonsense.

PackingSoap · 27/03/2019 14:53

And another thing ... (crikey, this story gets my goat)

A female body undergoes 38 weeks (roughly) of hormonal changes and an extraordinary hormonal and physiological event to finally lactate to feed a newborn.

These guys claim they can reproduce that process in three months.

Laughable. Utterly laughable.

GabrielleNelson · 27/03/2019 15:10

Did you see in the comments that a woman reported complaining to the BBC about their uncritical reporting of this article and (hold your breath, you won't see this coming) she got fobbed off!

I think this is a terrific example of how women's expertise is simply not understood or appreciated. Nobody who has breastfed a child for any length of time would believe what was claimed in that article or failed to be horrified at the implications, but the journalists who reported it don't seem to have had any questions at all.

NeurotrashWarrior · 27/03/2019 18:11

This. is. child. abuse.

I concur.

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NeurotrashWarrior · 27/03/2019 18:26

And yes packing, there's so much more involved than popping pills and pumping.

After recently loosing my supply suddenly after some steroids for a chest infection I've had some issues with one breast then bouncing back way too much as I tend to use that one more as I get a better latch. It's been engorged and the other one a flat as a pancake. There's been a slight imbalance since birth (10 mo) as I got a better latch on that side but now it's really noticeable!

Total speculation but I know there's all sort of other natural hormones floating around during and after pregnancy including cortisol etc. Kellymom describes a window of the first 4-6 weeks pp where certain cells are laid down etc.

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GrumpyGran8 · 27/03/2019 18:37

Barracker
I doubt there was even a baby, leta alone a partner. The clinic never saw either of them. The 'patient' apparently produced a pediactrician's report to the effect that the baby was thriving, but no details were given. If that report existed and wasn't faked, it could have been a report on any baby.
If the baby had been real, the doctors involved would have faced censure from their medical associations, for conducting a human experiment without oversight and without authorisation from an ethical body.
It's my opinion that these two doctors facilitated a man's autogynephiliac fantasy purely to drum up business for their clinic. So, thankfully, no child was involved.

OrchidInTheSun · 27/03/2019 18:56

Really, how could any medical professionals be involved in this and any self-respecting publication publish this? It's nonsense and/or abusive.

There was a women's hour episode earlier this year about breastfeeding and the very very complex emotions around it which are all about breast milk being 'best' for your baby. Any woman who was struggling to feed is doing it because of that. Not because she needs to be validated.

AssassinatedBeauty · 27/03/2019 19:14

How can anyone state that a biological male has successfully breastfed a baby without observing expressing and verifying milk production? And then studying any resultant "milk" to check what it is actually made up of and what levels of hormones/drugs are present? Before being involved in anyone actually trying to feed a baby this way.

DpWm · 27/03/2019 19:25

Grumpgran8
Oh god now it's moved on from selfish identity validation at the expense of a newborn baby's heath, to wanting to star in a breast-milk porn video in my mind.
Occam's Razor is pointing to one of these more strongly....

NeurotrashWarrior · 28/03/2019 07:02

If anyone has time it might be worth looking through dr Jack Newman's Website (amazing bf doctor) and fb as he is in Canada. I remember seeing a bit on supporting trans parents but I'm unsure if it was transmen or transwomen. However last time I looked it all seemed to have disappeared or I didn't find the correct page.

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Italiangreyhound · 28/03/2019 07:32

CharlieParley I completely agree with you that it is dangerous and unethical.

I don't everyone knows it is possible for men to lactate.

Italiangreyhound · 28/03/2019 07:34

Don't know every one knows....

CharlieParley · 28/03/2019 08:36

Fair enough. In that case, always worth pointing it out. Misunderstood your point and read it as men being able to sustain a baby via bf.

KatvonfeelzlikeaMAN · 28/03/2019 10:28

I like how one of them decided to try, just for the lolz 🤯👀

KatvonfeelzlikeaMAN · 28/03/2019 10:29

Why... Why why why why

Analysis of the experiment of induced lactation in a transwoman
Italiangreyhound · 28/03/2019 14:42

CharlieParley sometimes I'm not always clear* Smile

MsTiggywinkletoyou · 28/03/2019 14:58

Three lactating transwomen's stories. One of them is a radiologist and says breast tissue is breast tissue, my mammogram looks like any woman's. Another one tried lactating, and might try it again with a view to donating. (No idea what a milk bank would think of accepting it.) It was kind of funny because my spouse has really struggled with my breasts growing ...It was a very satisfying experience."

www.them.us/story/trans-women-breastfeed

drspouse · 28/03/2019 15:38

"My body will never allow me to conceive and bear a child, and I've always wanted to at least be able to nurse one."

Yeah, same here, but you know what? I didn't because, primarily, I didn't want to destroy my own body for a vain hope of nourishing my child which would probably just be a few tastes, and of course as well, I didn't want to poison my child.

The other thing that may interest you is that, in the UK, it's generally frowned upon for even adopters and foster carers who are already BF another child, to BF a fostered or placed-for-adoption baby (in the former case because, quite rightly, the fostered child is supposed to be forming a bond with their mother with a view to returning home, and in the latter case I think because it's going to place loads of pressure on mum and baby, and the fact that it was done can be a traumatic piece of information for the child when older.

So how are the medical professionals saying this is all right? I assume that they have no thought for the welfare of the child.

GabrielleNelson · 28/03/2019 15:43

Bloody hell. From that link above:

As far back as 2010, Dr. Christine McGinn, a trans surgeon who specializes in gender reassignment surgery, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in a sensationalized segment that revealed she had both fathered her children and was the sole parent to breastfed them. What’s more surprising is that it took this long for a medical journal to document the process.

What's more suprising to me is that anyone with even a smattering of biological knowledge could believe that surgeon's story. If there's any truth in it at all, I do wonder how Dr McGinn's partner, the birth mother I assume, thought about it all.

GabrielleNelson · 28/03/2019 15:45

By the way, does anyone know what womanhood means? I don't. I am a woman, I've been one all my life (not far short of 60 years now) and it's not a word I ever used or even heard until falling down this rabbithole.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 28/03/2019 15:59

'was the sole parent to breastfed them' needn't mean they received any nutrition to speak of from the father - it could mean the mother didn't breastfeed them at all and they had a quick suck on the father's nipple and he produced a few drops of something due to drugs.
That's not at all implausible, sadly.

GabrielleNelson · 28/03/2019 16:01

Yes, I thought that. Poor baby, whatever happened.

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