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)
_
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

And a woman with breasts that are created to produce milk taking lactation stimulating drugs is not the same as a man taking said drugs to make his chest create milk!

That’s just disingenuous to even suggest it’s at all similar. Breasts are literally made tk produce milk. A man’s chest is not made to feed a baby.

Can we please stop acting like men and women are the exact same biological make up?

@jj1968

Testosterone at a male level? To a baby girl? Mmmmm! Obviously you are under the impression all transwomen have little or no testosterone. Have you not read any posts on these boards since you have been posting?

Trans women who have been on t blockers long enough or who are post surgery/orchidectomy are likely to have very low testorerone levels, usually around the same as other women and none at all in some cases.

So many people claim to be experts on trans issues and yet appear to know so little.

We all know the most important fact. Males cannot become females. Ever.

Isn't low testosterone especially unhealthy in males ?

Isn't it true that only a very small percentage of transpeople take things to that extreme ?

The typical transwoman will have levels higher than any female, with many having levels same as other males

If male people who identify as TW can be medicated to have the personal desired experience of BF (because God knows no one's thinking of the baby here) then obviously it will have to be extended to all males. Any dad who wishes to.

That's going to nicely screw over women trying to leave ex's isn't it? You can't throw me out, I'm breast feeding our child.....

I'm reaching the point of no longer being willing to respect any of these language games, very very blunt language is needed. When a pregnant or BF females can't have painkillers in case of even a tiny risk of harming a baby but any male can be freely medicated for them to have a lovely experience with a baby then really we've lost any semblance of plot.

Wow. I had to double check that jj was back or not!!!

I'm reaching the point of no longer being willing to respect any of these language games, very very blunt language is needed. When a pregnant or BF females can't have painkillers in case of even a tiny risk of harming a baby but any male can be freely medicated for them to have a lovely experience with a baby then really we've lost any semblance of plot.

This.

The same for a male talking about uterus transplants. What is world coming to allowing such double standards! We are told to live lives without access to some drugs, food and alcohol for the sake of the foetuses, yet people taking a cocktail of drugs with hormones, hormone suppressors, and then immuno suppressors as well, and artificial everything else that a foetus gets from the mother in utero that a male simply will not have the reproductive system to deliver…. And doctors are considering this. Even supposedly attempting it.

All for feelz! Never any consideration for the child.

It takes a certain level of thinking to minimise an entire reproductive system to a crude replica vagina (or will it be transplanted too one day), and a uterus.

Sexal practices and babies do not mix, when will society actually get this.

Male sexual rights movement. It's common thread through all of it. Pull down all the boundaries for women and children and let the good times roll. For males.

Fuck that.

Thank you susanoboa

That's a great letter and the image about "A diversity of mothers" is wonderful.

www.mothersformother.com/

The same for a male talking about uterus transplants. What is world coming to allowing such double standards! We are told to live lives without access to some drugs, food and alcohol for the sake of the foetuses, yet people taking a cocktail of drugs with hormones, hormone suppressors, and then immuno suppressors as well, and artificial everything else that a foetus gets from the mother in utero that a male simply will not have the reproductive system to deliver…. And doctors are considering this. Even supposedly attempting it.

Honestly, there are so many conditions connected to reproductive health that millions of women struggle with like PCOS, menopause, painful periods thanks to years of ignorance, religious superstitions, misogyny and chronic underfunding, but medical establishment wants to focus on uterus transplant that will benefit 500 people annually?

I am very happy for any transwoman who has given birth to a baby to be taking decisions about the feeding of said baby, including milk stimulating drugs.

Epli

I cannot work out if it is some doctors who are simply aiming to be at the 'cutting' edge or whether it is doctors who are seeking to help other men.

We have had some male posters on this board who were very excited about the prospect for themselves. They had absolutely no idea how the female body works with pregnancy. Completely ignorant about how the female body has adaptions that they could never have to monitor and make adjustments. They honestly look at baby lambs growing in bags and think that is very acceptable for their prospective child.

It is really very concerning.

@Doubletoilandtrouble

I am very happy for any transwoman who has given birth to a baby to be taking decisions about the feeding of said baby, including milk stimulating drugs.

Don't issue challenges like that!!

@Helleofabore

Epli

I cannot work out if it is some doctors who are simply aiming to be at the 'cutting' edge or whether it is doctors who are seeking to help other men.

We have had some male posters on this board who were very excited about the prospect for themselves. They had absolutely no idea how the female body works with pregnancy. Completely ignorant about how the female body has adaptions that they could never have to monitor and make adjustments. They honestly look at baby lambs growing in bags and think that is very acceptable for their prospective child.

It is really very concerning.

And again, it's all about the experience of the adult.

There's zero care or interest for the experience of the human being created, what such processes might do, what they lose by not being within a living, adapting body with a bond to it. This is why the same screening used for adoptive parents should be mandatory for all parents commissioning a baby via surrogacy or extreme routes such as this, where the first and biggest criteria of assessment is: is this adult capable of putting the child's needs and interests above their own?

And are they creating this person as something to fix or fulfil a need of their own?

And again, it's all about the experience of the adult.

Which is so infuriating - pregnant women are often treated as no more than incubators and everything they do is judged from the unborn baby wellbeing POV, but suddenly, when it's about transpeople their mental health (defined as affirming their POV rather than bringing them back to planet Earth) is the most important consideration.

The hierarchy is really quite pointed, isn't it?

@HecatesCats

This organisation has spent years trying to convince women breast is best because of the nutritional, brain boosting content of the milk, how clever it is that it changes as the baby grows in order to meet the needs of the child and how important it is for emotional development. I make no judgement here on women breastfeeding or not, I found it bloody difficult. What I find unbelievable is that they're prepared to undermine their message by announcing that people who are born male who take drugs to produce milk can provide anything like that to a baby. The complete absence of context about how and when this might happen. Under what circumstances would babies need to be breastfed by a transwoman, other than to validate the individual involved. Which brings me back to the original point of their mission being to encourage women to breastfeed for the 'amazing' health and development boosting properties.

I'm a bf peer supporter and often have to refer to LLL/LLLi resources to the mum's I help, and this campaign they've chosen has completely disheartened me.

And I can't even bring it up with my coordinator as our LA is a stonewall champion.

That is a great letter and website resource MrsOvertonsWindow:

www.mothersformother.com/

I have encountered women who have had to make decisions on the relative risks of taking their required medication while breastfeeding. It is sometimes not a clear decision and it is extremely difficult, especially for women who have negative views on formula feeding. Always the safety and well-being of the infant is their paramount concern. The women take this medication so that they can stay healthy and look after their babies.

Men lack the physiological requirements for breastfeeding. To produce the faux, non-nutritious, “milk” they will need high doses of drugs! How horrendous that La Leche should support men pumped with high doses of nasty drugs to give an infant inadequate nutrition. What a kick in the teeth for women who wish to breastfeed but have made an unselfish decision not to do so, because they don’t want to expose their child to unnecessary or unhealthy medication.