Breast-feeding men

[snopes]

Comment: I have been told that it is possible for men, with hormone shots,
to produce milk to breast feed babies. The statement was that the anatomy
of the male and female are the same in this regard, and that with the
hormone therapy the father can be made to lactate in order to provide
milk. This is done in cases where the child requires breast milk for some
reason and the mother cannot breast feed. Is this really true?

[Mad Jay]

Wouldn't it be easier and more effective to hire a wet nurse?

[Elbe]

Once, long long ago (back in middle school sex ed class) we were told that occassionally boys can develop mammory glands at puberty - which scared the bejeezus out of us, what guy wants to suddenly grow breasts.
So I'd think it's all a matter of chemicals.

I knew I'd read about this somewhere and Here it is!

It is possible for a man to grow breasts using hormones. Male to Female transexuals do this. Moving on to guesswork here, adding in the right hormones to trigger milk production might work in some cases.

If this were possible I'm pretty sure this would be a bad idea for feeding a baby because medicines often come out in breast milk. That would include the hormones the man is taking.

[Algae]

I'm pretty sure I remember hearing about a man that allowed his child to latch on for comfort after the 2004 tsunami and he began producing milk. I'm having trouble finding a record of that on Google, though. This is the only story I could find, but I don't know how accurate it is.

Isn't it possible to induce lactation in women just by stimulation (i.e. pump)? Why wouldn't it work for men too?

[lynnejanet]

From what I understand, it is quite possible for men to lactate, even just from very sustained nipple stimulation. Nipple stimulation causes the production of the hormone prolactin, which stimulates milk production.

There's a wikipedia page about it here. There's a funny little video called Milk Men (which I confess I have not yet watched in full). There's also a web site about the phenomenon here, which is, not surprisingly, an attachment parenting/homebirth site.

I was surprised that the La Leche League site didn't seem to have any information, because a LLL is where I first learned about it.

I used to think that men's nipples were some type of, I don't know, vestigal body part and that they wouldn't have the right anatomy to make milk.

But, having my baby this year, I went crazy reading stuff about newborns and everything, and I came across several articles about the side effects mothers' hormones can have on babies. It seems quite normal (not especially common, just normal) for a baby, male or female, to lactate shortly after birth. When the mother goes into labor, her hormones are going crazy. It only seems rational that the baby would be affected.

So, if a baby male can inadvertently be induced into producing milk with hormones, why couldn't an adult male?

Cites in the milkmen link posted by Sunny Lea and lynnejanet seem to indicate that men can even produce the hormone levels required to make milk naturally, just from the suckling of an infant.

Totally OTS, but where the heck is the spell check on this newfangled thing, anyway??? Am I blind?

Well... all men have mammary glands, but they usualy are inactive through-out a man's life. As far as I know, only a few men can lactate milk.

I'm a bit surprised that nobody has mentioned the fact that mammary glands are just modified sweat glands.

I have heard that males can produce milk to feed a baby. I love shocking my anatomy students with that little tidbit! I'd actually hoped that it would happen with one of my male cats a few years ago when we'd acquired some orphaned kittens, but no luck. (He did try to nurse them, but maybe not consistently enough.)

Frankly I find the idea pretty intriguing. I wonder if the nutritional values would be similar? That'd be pretty cool if the family had a stay-at-home dad and a mom that had to work!

CatPurrson

[llewtrah]

It was answered in the Saturday Guardian newspaper (magazine section) a couple of weeks ago. The doctor responded that hormone injections (stating which hormones and the timing of injections) could induce lactation in males, but would depress his sexual urges in the meantime. Unfortunately, the magazine doesn't seem to be online.

The milk sometimes secreted by male and female infants is apparently known as witch's milk. I remember that from the "I am John's/I am Jane's ..." bodypart series in the Readers Digest during the 1970s!

Originally Posted by Elbe

Once, long long ago (back in middle school sex ed class) we were told that occassionally boys can develop mammory glands at puberty - which scared the bejeezus out of us, what guy wants to suddenly grow breasts.
So I'd think it's all a matter of chemicals.

This one is quite true. Rare... but true.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbo...elopment.shtml

The article does say that breast tissue in boys will disappear later on, though... however, I have reason to be certain that this is not always the case.

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by Carthage

This one is quite true. Rare... but true.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbo...elopment.shtml

The article does say that breast tissue in boys will disappear later on, though... however, I have reason to be certain that this is not always the case.

You're right it isn't always the case. There was a TV documentary last autumn about men with breasts (gynecomastia). The outcome of surgery sometimes left them with indents.

Gynecomastia
Wikipedia
Reduction Surgery

[llewtrah]

I've just noticed how it's possible to misinterpret the thread title to mean "breast-feeding a man" rather than "breast-feeding by a man" :o .

I seem to recall reading about a man who was able to lactate (though only on one side) just by willing himself to do it. I brought up the subject with DH, on the off chance we decide to have children, so he would share the bonding experience that comes with nursing. He said absolutely not because he didn't want to have to explain it to the child later. He just pictured Show & Tell one day when she blurted out to the class "My daddy nursed me when I was a baby!"

It is very true that more men who ARE NOT GAY but heterosexual and often married are growing feminine breasts! There has been an amazing surge in herbal formulas to men for that very reason. Many are taking hormones to grow breasts and stopping before chemical castration occurs. There are also ways and formulas that will get milk from mens breasts after they have acquired them! It could be the wave of the future! Real manly men scoff and jeer at this thought! Hmmmm maybe the one's that scoff the loudest are the one's considering feminine breast growth too! Personally I don't see what harm it can cause as long as the person has made up his mind and if in a relationship, they are both agreeable to it! My wife say's it could be the best of both worlds!! I might enjoy having a nice rack with sensitive nipples!!

Originally Posted by Fun with a 9mm

Isn't it possible to induce lactation in women just by stimulation (i.e. pump)? Why wouldn't it work for men too?

There are adopted mothers who do that,but they usually use hormones and nutritional supplements to force their body to produce-and from what I have read rather difficult.(Ok,so I admit I went through a phase nursing my dd that I explored the subject rather heavily)

I could imagine the same could be true for men,but it would be EVEN more difficult to stimulate.

[RivkahChaya]

Women who want to nurse adopted newborns usually have to start preparing early with pump stimulation. But actually holding the newborn seems to be an important part of the process, so there's an emotional component to breastfeeding. I know when my son was a newborn, the sound of his cry could make me leak.

Given that breastmilk is a secretion from a modified sweat gland, I think it's unreasonable to suppose that men could never possibly have mammary secretions. I imagine it happens a lot. I knew a guy once who had breast cancer, and his first clue that something was wrong were milky secretions from the affected nipple.

But I still wonder if the secretions a man might produce could actually be used to nourish an infant. I have no doubt a baby could be comforted by latching onto to Daddy's nipples, and if Daddy produced a liquid that tasted sweet and quenched thirst, so much the better, but I wonder if a baby could be sustained long-term on male milk. Men's breast tissue isn't just less than women's, it's really different.

[marrya]

Originally Posted by babyhellfire

There are adopted mothers who do that,but they usually use hormones and nutritional supplements to force their body to produce-and from what I have read rather difficult

Been there, done that, bought the [blood stained] tshirt. Don't recommend it, and wouldn't ever try it again.

I remember once, in tears, moaning at the Mr. about how there was no good reason for me to be the only one going to all that effort. Needless to say, he changed the subject pretty quickly.