La Leche League will support males (of the male sex) who wish to breastfeed.

[ExLLLeader]

I picked this up on a recent Facebook post and could not quite believe it so made the following complaint/query and it is true. I was a La Leche League Leader for many years and am very upset to see how the organisation has lost its focus on the Mother and baby.

Complaint To The Board of Directors/Trustees

Dear Board members,

I was alarmed to see a post yesterday on the LLLGB Facebook page. The post in celebrating Transgender awareness week. The post links to the this page which states

LLLGB supports everyone who wants to breastfeed or chestfeed in reaching their goals. We do not discriminate based on sex, gender or gender identity.

And
Trans men, trans women and non-binary individuals may choose to breastfeed or chestfeed their babies.

And
Trans women can use a protocol similar to adoptive and other non-gestational mothers and stimulate their milk supply: it is called the Newman-Goldfarb protocol.

I have two issues I wish to complain about and they relate to the idea that males/Transwomen can breastfeed.

LLLGB should not be promoting the idea that males can induce lactation to feed a baby. There is no evidence to say this is safe, only an anecdotal example of a case where a doctor in the US enabled this to happen using off label drugs. The focus of the paper is mainly on the desires of the male bodied person and there is little interest in the impact on the baby and indeed the mother. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5779241/ . I would hope you have also considered the fetishisation of breastfeeding which does not only apply to men watching women, males lactating is also a paraphilia.

Why would LLLGB of all organisations choose not to discriminate on the basis of sex as it is perfectly entitled to under the equalities act? By saying these two statements there is nothing to stop a male wishing to come to women only meetings. Even I presume, before the baby is born. Im not sure if you would require that the male considered themselves to be a woman by performing gender stereotypes or not. (The male in the study had no surgery so still had a functioning penis.) Does this entitle a male who has breastfed to apply for Leadership?

Yours Sincerely
(ExLLLeader)

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Dear (ExLLLeader)
Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns.
Your first concern is that there may be safety concerns relating to inducing lactation via drugs. The protocol used by Trans men is very similar to that used by women wishing to induce lactation. This treatment has an established treatment history. As lay breastfeeding counsellors, LLL Leaders role is to provide up to date and accurate information which individuals can use to inform their discussion with their healthcare provider.
Our groups have discretion to consider the needs of their communities when they decide who can attend. Some will by default be women only, however our support is and must always be open to anyone who needs support and information to breastfeed (which some individuals call chestfeeding). This would mean that a group would need to find a way to balance the needs of members who needed a single sex space, with the needs of an individual who needed chestfeeding support.
Eligibility for La Leche League Leadership is set by LLL International and can be found here: www.llli.org/get-involved/prerequisites/
As an organisation with a robust safeguarding culture, if we had concerns about an individual's motivation for seeking breastfeeding support we would take appropriate action to protect families and babies.
Best wishes (LLL Trustee)
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Dear (LLL Trustee)
Thank you for your reply, I have copied my complaint below as I was raising concerns about the male sex – i.e. Transwomen and breastfeeding and you have answered as if my concern is about female sexed i.e. trans men.

Best wishes (ExLLLeader)
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Dear (ExLLLeader)
My apologies - I used the wrong word there. I should have said the protocol used by transwomen wishing to induce lactation is very similar to that used by women. The rest of my reply is intended to answer your points as raised.
(LLL Trustee)
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Dear (LLL Trustee)
I am surprised to hear this. Would you therefor support a ‘Cis” man to breastfeed and provide the nutrients for a newborn baby?
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Not had an answer

@MedusasBadHairDay

I remember the hassle I had when my DC were babies and lactose intolerant, we were warned against soya formula because of something to do with hormones in it? I couldn't breastfeed because I was taking particular prescription drugs, am I right in remembering that you are advised against certain over the counter painkillers too?

You're right, you can't take anything with codeine in.

My skin was awful through pregnancy and breastfeeding because I couldn't use any retinol or acids. If they expect those things to affect baby, how about male hormones, artificial hormones and lactation drugs.

The world is moving on and we are trying to keep up to date and ensure that there is nobody who needs us and doesn't get the support.

This is completely tone deaf. So, the world has moved on to now allow males to use drugs to induce lactation where the effect of that milk has not been even remotely adequately researched and LLL is merely accepting this as ‘keeping up to date’.

And anyone questioning this is therefore ‘out of date’. There is NO acknowledgement of why females would feel uncomfortable with having males included in their groups. None at all. It was just wiped away with ‘the world has moved on’.

Sadly, the only way forward is for alternative groups that cater for females needs as allowed by the EA to be formed.

@DidoLamenting yes I am in the UK by GP prescribed after the infant feeding team in my hospital requested them to. Jack Newman is very respected by the team there.

@Masssivefuckup thank you , was a stressful time as it sounds for you.

I remember seeing a thing online where a person borrowed a baby - not even theirs - to feed and have photos taken.

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

I remember seeing a thing online where a person borrowed a baby - not even theirs - to feed and have photos taken.

So so grim

The world is moving on insofar as minimising the needs and requirements of women is "ok" again in the eyes of the Wokus Dei.

I remember seeing a thing online where a person borrowed a baby - not even theirs - to feed and have photos taken.

I have seen a photo series done by a professional photographer/artist featuring a male dressed in lingerie if I remember correctly holding an infant in feeding position with both nipples erect. The infant was being used as a prop in a fantasy. This is what the ‘world has moved on’ to allow as art. New borns being used in fantasies.

@Winesalot

I remember seeing a thing online where a person borrowed a baby - not even theirs - to feed and have photos taken.

I have seen a photo series done by a professional photographer/artist featuring a male dressed in lingerie if I remember correctly holding an infant in feeding position with both nipples erect. The infant was being used as a prop in a fantasy. This is what the ‘world has moved on’ to allow as art. New borns being used in fantasies.

If that’s moving on, I want to move the fuck back

@Winesalot

I remember seeing a thing online where a person borrowed a baby - not even theirs - to feed and have photos taken.

I have seen a photo series done by a professional photographer/artist featuring a male dressed in lingerie if I remember correctly holding an infant in feeding position with both nipples erect. The infant was being used as a prop in a fantasy. This is what the ‘world has moved on’ to allow as art. New borns being used in fantasies.

Ugh.

Christ that lingerie infant feeding man photo is so perverted and revolting. It is also seriously offensive to those of us who have breastfed our children. It is difficult, tiring and wonderful and not remotely sexual. What a vile man and poor unwitting baby.

Lords - Can you imagine growing up and coming across those photos of you as a baby?

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

Technically wolves could feed babies - Remus and Romulus and all that. So the league could technically approve this too?

Ah, to do new things, irrespective of whether they are bonkers or not is the way to go. The thing is not to appear old fashioned.

Maybe animal shelters will be calling for women to nurse litter of puppies who have lost their mother. Also lost the father dog (or else they could induce 'lactation' in him instead).

Or maybe .... .? No, animal cruelty orgs would call it out as accessorising the animals.

As an aside, our new puppy tried to latch on... fuck me it hurt.

Now I have images in my head I can't unsee. A man in lingerie nursing a baby? An insult to all the women who have ever tried to breast feed and for whatever reason have struggled.

I’d rather watch Caras puppy...

When I had DD, I struggled in the hospital to breastfeed so ended up straight on formula. I was a very young new mum, scared, anxious, and absolutely clueless. When I was discharged, the midwife was going through some paperwork and when she got to the bosom buddies leaflet, she screwed it up in front of me and said "oh well you don't need that, you're bottle feeding". I felt utterly utterly useless.

I also tried to relactate when my supply reduced because DS wouldn't latch on properly. I had really bad PND and I just wanted to feed and bond with my baby. My GP said no, they wouldn't prescribe domperidone. My HV said she could see I desperately wanted to bond with him but didn't offer any support for feeding or bonding.

I actually find this quite hurtful that TW will be offered the support that I desperately needed but never got.

La Leche League supporting men in their fetish.

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

I’d rather watch Caras puppy...

She is very, very cute. Not that I'm biased or anything.

But my god I haven't been this knackered since DS was a toddler.

painted. I could have done with more support (or at least someone talking me through the medical issues such that I didn't feel such a damn failure - genuine low supply for medical reasons is the elephant in the room that evangelicals like LLL refuse to talk about.)

Oh god yes that one, didn't it all go a bit wrong in the end? Not long or painful enough etc ? Another fine example of the logical conclusion that you end up at when supporting without question.

That person wasn't just simulating pregnancy (which is obviously bad enough), it was pregnancy ending in stillbirth, a woman who had actually had a stillborn baby objected and was kicked out of the group by stupid woke women.

Shame that one didnt make the news too.

Maybe then we wouldn't have to keep avoiding the use if certain acronyms or restraining ourselves from using the f word incase of reports and deletions etc..

for you painted

I'm so sorry.

I'm also so sorry that women like you should be helped by LLL and instead they will they will be made to be complicit in a fetish. I feel sick.

Sorry about your experience, painted. When I had my baby, it was after WHO had made a big thing and the hospital I was in were promoting breastfeeding big time.

I had a caesarian and was a bit sorry for myself and also found the latch on sore. There was a nurse breastfeeding leader, who was fantastic but not flexible. Very dismissive of nipple shields. I understand they can affect milk production and give rise to a different suck.

One evening I was so sore, I asked one of the nurses on duty if she would get me a nipple shield. She did but said not to tell the breastfeeding leader. It made the difference for me. Just once or twice to get over the soreness. And knowing I had them gave me the feeling of a way out if I got too sore again.

@paintedpanda , almost exactly my own experience. Makes me fucking sick to my stomach that a TW after an accessory would get more support than I did. I was treated with contempt and like a failure. I was dismissed as not being helpful to whatever fucking bf targets they were working towards.