A trans woman has been helped to breastfeed her grandson, in what is believed to be a world first.
The unnamed 50-year-old woman was helped to express up to 30ml of milk at a time, after a four-week hormone treatment.
Researchers at Duke University reported that the woman “breastfed for a total of two weeks” and was able to feed the four-month-old baby.
The motivation for inducing lactation was to create a “bond through breastfeeding that she had not been able to experience with her five children.”
The experience moved her to tears and, she says, had the added benefit of affirming her female gender and enlarging her breasts.
Mika Minio-Paluello, a trans woman from the United Kingdom, sparked an international debate about gender and motherhood last year after uploading this image of her breastfeeding. She was not involved in the new study.
American trans woman Naomi, 24, a mother of three, went viral on Twitter last May for feeding her son breast milk that she had expressed herself. She was not involved in the new study.
The patient subsequently discontinued treatment “due to logistical barriers.”
According to the researchers, who published their study in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine, the patient had said she had “a last minute idea” about breastfeeding her grandson.
“The patient first expressed the unique desire to breastfeed her long-awaited grandchild at an appointment with her endocrinologist in the spring of 2022,” they wrote.
‘She revealed that it was a last-minute idea that occurred to her very close to her daughter’s due date.
‘Five weeks after starting treatment changes for lactation induction, she returned to her previous medication regimen.
“She claims that she stopped pursuing her personal goal of breastfeeding due to logistical barriers, such as the need to care for her grandson while her daughter expressed milk.”
‘Her main motivation for inducing lactation was to experience the bond of breastfeeding that she had not been able to experience with her five children.
‘The patient, through tears, reported that this was a significant and emotional experience for her that felt very different from feeding formula to her other children.
‘She claims she has a special bond with this baby for which she is grateful.
‘She regrets not having known about that possibility sooner and wanted other transgender women to know that breastfeeding a baby can be a reality.
‘It reported unforeseen benefits, including affirmation of the female gender and full maturation of the breasts.
“The patient did not experience any side effects from her treatment regimen.”
It is only the fifth report of a trans woman experiencing induced lactation for the purpose of breastfeeding.
Different treatment protocols were also required since the drugs used in the previous four studies have not been approved for use in the US by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The researchers added: “Conversations with the subject before, during, and after treatment revealed important insights for ongoing discussions about the role of lactation induction and breastfeeding in gender-affirming care.”
The issue of trans women breastfeeding is subject to controversy, with critical gender activists describing the study as “absolutely shocking”.
Heather Welford of With Woman, a collective of midwives and breastfeeding experts, said: “Most people would find the idea absolutely shocking.”
‘Babies come into the world ready to continue the relationship with their mother, and breastfeeding helps this.
“Interrupting this with attempts to breastfeed by anyone else is downright disturbing.”
Maya Forstater, chief executive of campaign group Sex Matter, said: “Babies cannot consent to take part in a study that leaves biological reality aside to define treatment protocols related to so-called ‘gender medicine.’
“Men should not be allowed, much less supported, to come between babies and their mothers, or use babies as props to validate their beliefs that they are women.”
Last year, the CDC came under fire for recommending its website appeared to endorse “breastfeeding,” meaning when a trans woman who was born a man breastfeeds.
One section, titled “Health Equity Considerations,” stated that “a person does not need to have given birth to breastfeed or breastfeed.”
There was nothing on the site that mentioned risks to the baby’s health, including heart problems.