Male lactation

[Inner Stickler]

I included a poll because I'm curious about the attitudes of melloheads on this topic but I also want people to feel free to discuss the issue or if there is one. I think a lot of people feel an initial antagonism to the idea because it is so strange. Is it an abnormal practice that should be abolished by all right-thinking people, or is it another way of furthering the father-child bond and should become a part of hippiedippie pre-natal classes like those fake pregnancy stomach pads?

[Myrnalene]

Here's a wiki link on the subject.

And here is an article with video that Sticky found.

[AllWalker]

It doesn't bother me. The leap from men having breasts to men lactating is not all that large on the weirdness scale. As for using it for breastfeeding children, well, I wouldn't suggest it as an option - it is just a little emasculating - but I might ask a probing question or two to see where he stood on the issue.

I find it weird as a mental image, but if it works, hey, why not?

[Inner Stickler]

Emasculating how? Because the man is taking on a traditionally feminine role?

[RabbitMage]

I don't plan to breastfeed my kidlets in any way shape or form, but if my partner desires to and is capable, be they male or female, why not?

My only concern (having not done any research) is the nutritional content of the milk. As long as it's roughly equal though? We're good.

[AllWalker]

Emasculating how? Because the man is taking on a traditionally feminine role?

Yes, but it goes beyond that. This is a role that is reinforced by biology - while men can lactate, it is not as widespread as it is in women (at least, I think that is the case).

If a traditional role involves doing something, say cooking, then that is one thing. If the gender role involves producing something from your body, well, that is a little more culturally ingrained.

Certainly, while I would be happy to breastfeed my child if that were desirable and possible, I would not be widely advertising the fact. I wouldn't be closeted, but I wouldn't tell everyone.

[Inner Stickler]

Well, the lady in the video says what testing has been done shows it to be higher in protein than women's breastmilk. (Dr. Sticks, Armchair Physician asks, "Can we end Chunky Baby Syndrome forever, armed with this new knowledge?") There's not a lot of information out there and I haven't been able to find anything corroborative or other but what few sources there are say that at the moment men's breast milk should be seen as a supplement to women's or more as a bonding thing for men and babies. (Dr. Sticks says, "Hey, with that second option, you really don't even need lactation, just latching!")

[Inner Stickler]

Yes, but it goes beyond that. This is a role that is reinforced by biology - while men can lactate, it is not as widespread as it is in women (at least, I think that is the case).

If a traditional role involves doing something, say cooking, then that is one thing. If the gender role involves producing something from your body, well, that is a little more culturally ingrained.

Certainly, while I would be happy to breastfeed my child if that were desirable and possible, I would not be widely advertising the fact. I wouldn't be closeted, but I wouldn't tell everyone.

We have very different personalities. If given the opportunity to breastfeed offspring, I think I would leap at the opportunity. Don't babies gain antibodies from their mother's milk? Wouldn't dual feeding up the baby's disease fighting ability? Frankly I see no real downside to at least making the effort and am more than willing to expend effort in bringing it to the mainstream people. I really do find it interesting that your objection is based on emasculation. I don't find the threat of being emasculated worrisome in the least. Perhaps it is because of my background or an innate character flaw. If people will think less of me as a man for breastfeeding then I guess I would count it as no great loss.

[AllWalker]

We have very different personalities. If given the opportunity to breastfeed offspring, I think I would leap at the opportunity. Don't babies gain antibodies from their mother's milk? Wouldn't dual feeding up the baby's disease fighting ability? Frankly I see no real downside to at least making the effort and am more than willing to expend effort in bringing it to the mainstream people. I really do find it interesting that your objection is based on emasculation. I don't find the threat of being emasculated worrisome in the least. Perhaps it is because of my background or an innate character flaw. If people will think less of me as a man for breastfeeding then I guess I would count it as no great loss.

I'm not saying it would bother me. I'm saying it would most likely bother most people. Like I said, I have no objection to the practice.

[Exy]

It actually is somewhat worse to imagine a baby just sucking on dad's nipple all day like a pacifier.

[Revs]

Look, I just want to send my check every month, not breastfeed the damn kid.

[Hatshepsut]

For me personally, that's just way too weird. Actually I think the whole cult of breastfeeding is kind of squicky. I breastfed my son because I knew it was best for his development (as an added bonus, it made all the crazy traveling on 12-hour plane flights SOOOOoooo much easier). But I never rhapsodized about it in a goofy way as some mothers do. (I'm still embarrassed for a friend of mine who told me with a straight face, "breastfeeding is so much fun! It makes me feel like ... an ANIMAL.")

Having said all that, I don't care at all what other people choose to do as long as it is healthy for the baby and makes sense for the parents. Mom breastfeeds, dad breastfeeds...whatever floats your boat. Just don't share your breast-feeding experience with me, regardless of your gender. No matter how thrilled you are, I don't want to hear about it.

[OneCentStamp]

I'm male and would be horrified if I started lactating, or indeed started exhibiting any female secondary sex traits; e.g. boobies.

[hatesfreedom]

For those men who voted yes, I can't wait till someone tells your kid that they were sucking on man nipple. Sucking hard.

Also if you're a guy and shit starts coming out of your ample fat tits, maybe you should go to the doctor instead of making someone drink it.

[Sarahfeena]

One thing you guys should know is that breastfeeding can hurt really, really bad. Toe-curling bad. My kid nearly reduced me to tears (my lactation consultant said he could "suck paint off a wall.") It hurt like that every feeding time (that's 8+ times a day) for almost two months. If that sounds fun to you, have at it!

[Zuul]

I don't plan to breastfeed my kidlets in any way shape or form, but if my partner desires to and is capable, be they male or female, why not?

My only concern (having not done any research) is the nutritional content of the milk. As long as it's roughly equal though? We're good.

AFAIK, it's the same.

We've all got nipples and there are several types of birds which produce "crop milk" in both sexes for their offspring. Apparently, there are even fish who do the same thing, and it's triggered by prolactin the same as it is in mammals. There are studies of many different animals (again, including non-mammals) that show prolactin is associated with paternal feelings as well as maternal.

So it appears that it originally evolved as something both parents shared and only later did it begin to atrophy in male mammals. I know there are several animal species where the male no longer has nipples at all. But, there is evidence to imply that once in the unimaginably distant past all us mammals lactated and fed our young, regardless of sex.

I guess I wouldn't have a problem with it if somebody else wanted to do it but it's not something I'd ever suggest, either. Yeah, it's possible, but it's not really necessary. I mean, our distant ancestors also scurried about naked on their bellies. Doesn't mean we have to.

[Taumpy]

As an FTM, I'm assuming whatever capability to lactate I might have had would be lost post-surgery.

That's moot, though, because I find the idea very unpleasant and would not willingly participate.

[Exy]

I'm taking a stand against male breastfeeding.

I have a general opposition to performing any kind of crazy-ass social experiment on one's children. I'm not arguing that it's important that every family look exactly like Leave It To Beaver, but frankly, your kid is not a canvas upon which to act out your nuttiness, by refusing to vaccinate or raising it in a cult or, in my opinion, by sticking your hairy man-nips in its mouth.

No one can make any claims about the composition of man-milk as opposed to that of normal titjuice; there's no way -- no matter what the lady in the tub full of milk said -- that anyone's done an actual study doing that comparison. Since the anatomy and the genetics are basically the same between men and women, it's likely that the composition is similar. But we don't know that. All the evolutionary pressure that created whatever system operates to regulate breast milk production acted on women, and no one can honestly claim that we know dude milk is equivalent to lady milk.

Beyond that, it just rubs me the wrong way when people aren't willing to cooperate with the norms of society in raising their kids. When they're also not cooperating with tens of millions of years of natural history, that just makes it worse for me. It's not even all that easy for a lot of women to breastfeed their babies, why would you try to multiply the complications by making it dry sucking on dad's nipples too?

And the thought of milk coming out of a guy's nipples just disgusts me. I know it can under some circumstances. I know if you use a breastpump every day you can maybe even make it happen deliberately. Still gross. Plus, well, the male nipple's normal function is as an erogenous zone. If anyone's gonna have their tongue on my nipples it's not gonna be a baby.

[The Original An Gadaí]

[Orual]

No. Also, no.

If you're such a Special Snowflake that you want to be a MAN who BREASTFEEDS, you're probably an obnoxious attention-whore who should not procreate.