Lactating Men...

Sri Lankan widower breastfeeds his babies​

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Colombo - A 38-year-old Sri Lankan man, whose wife had died three months ago, appears to have the ability to breastfeed his two infant daughters, doctors said on Wednesday.
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The man, from the central town of Walapone, lost his wife during childbirth.
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"My eldest daughter refused to be fed with powdered milk liquid in the feeding bottle.
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"I was so moved one evening and to stop her crying I offered my breast. I then realised that I was capable of breastfeeding her," the man admitted.
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Dr Kamal Jayasinghe, deputy director of a Sri Lankan government hospital, was quoted as saying it was possible for men to produce milk if the prolactine hormone became hyperactive. - Sapa-AFP
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What?! Is this really serious or is it merely an urban legend? I have never in my life heard of a man being capable of breastfeeding!

 

It's real!! I've been researching it and as far as I can tell, it's very real! As far as scientists can tell, it's looks like it's a built in emergency mechanism, in case the female partner dies, the male can feed the baby long enough to get it eating solids. Freaky huh?

 

Wow! Just...wow!

 

Yep...I thought that was interesting....Sorta wanted brian to try it just so we could see if we could share that ability! haha....would make things easier

 

yeh, it's real. works on the same principal that adoptive mothers can nurse their babies. All mammals are born with the right equipment. Just goes to show it don't matter how big your boobs are, you can still feed your baby!

 

Wow that's amazing

 

yeah, i've heard about this & actually seen that same photo before!
so i wonder if this works with other mammals in the animal kingdom????
just AmAzInG!!!!

 

Holy shitza..... that's crazy.

 

Ladies, this is HIGHLY UNLIKELY!
Reasons:

• The ductals system, which makes, transports and ejects the milk is laid down, via female hormones, in puberty. Men simply do not have the right hormones to lactate, in most cases. Men do NOT usually develop a ductal system in their breasts,it has to happen in puberty, or it won't happen, without ducts you cannot make milk!
• Testosterone is an antagonist of Prolactin and Progesterone. A drop in Progesterone, following childbirth, followed by a spike in Prolactin, caused by the placenta leaving the mother's body, spurs Lactogenisis, meaning the begining of milk formation in earnest. Without Progesterone to drop (men have little of this hornone) and prolactin to increase (men have about 20 time less than womyn who are NOT lactating) Lactogenisis just is NOT going to happen
• Even in cases of Adoption Lactation most womyn have a VERY hard time making milk, even with galactogagues, (Drugs which may help milk supply) and STIMULATION from even the best pumps and stimulation from systems like the SNS, or Supplemental Lactation System (a bottle attached to tubes, which are taped to the breast and lead to teh baby's mouth to reward the baby for suckling) AND also almost 100% of mothers who attempt Adoptive Lactation need to use a supplement, even if they have succesfully nursed a baby before. The pregnancy and placental removal along with increased ductal development during pregnancy is difficult to simulate in a womyn. It is virtually impossible in a man.
• There IS a condition in some men called Gynecomastia or "Female Breasts" known in the vernacular as "man tits" only about 10% or less of men have Gynecomastia, BUT less than 4% of men with Gynecomastia have ANY ductal tissue,(the rest, the breasts are just fat tissue with NO ductal tissue at all) meaning even men with "tits" don't have the internal equipment to lactate. Even in the small number of men who DO produce a small amount of fluid from their breasts, it is never in enough quantity to nourish a baby, they just are unable to produce enough Prolactin to do this. A few men with Pitiuitary Gland tumors produce a substance from their breasts, but they have pretty serious medical problems. They are most likely too ill to even consider breastfeeding, and they would also be very overweight, this man is extremely thin

The man in this picture doesn't even have COMMON Gynecomastia, he has NO breasts, much less milk ductage. Without ducts WHERE would that milk be made? He is NOT producing milk, the baby probably may not even be latched on, the child just looks like he is pushed up against his chest. (ANY baby will suck on a nipple, that doesn't mean any milk is coming out of it.)

This "Legend" has come out of India and SouthEast Asia a few times, (India, in many places is a very sexist county,(burning widows on their husband's funeral pyre was just recently outlawed and a man can still kill his wife or daughter if he suspects she is having sex) and the idea that womyn can do something a man can't bugs some people there) the men who claimed they lactated refused to be examined or even photographed up close by professionals.

Not in the absence of ductal tissue. A small amount of ductal tissue might be formed, but not enough to actually "lactate." A couple of drops of clear of yellowish fluid is about what you might see. And in this case, the pituatary gland is probably diseased and the man would be pretty ill.

I have seen this picture before. Most Lactation Consultants (myself included) are 99.9999999999% sure it is an urban legend. He could well be pacifying this child with his nipple in her mouth (she looks close to a year or so old, so I am guessing she is already well onto solid food) but he is not producing milk.

 

I understand the medical reasons why it can't happen.

However, I like to entertain the idea that it COULD happen. You never know. Sometimes, miracles do happen. *shrugs*

I know most people make this stuff up, but I think it's possible, especially in times of great crisis. (this coming from a very gullible, naive person )

 

I know it sounds nice, but this man doesn't have BREASTS. Where are his ducts? I've been studying lactation for more than 18 years, and this just makes no sense to me. IF he had enough prolactin to even produce a small amount of fluid from the breast, this usually shuts down the testes, THEN he would be infertile, and would not have had the children in the first place. Most men with DUCTAL Gynecomastis ARE infertile. And they are rare.

 

two links for you folks...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_lactation
http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/milkmen.html

The wikipedia arfticle is a bit limmited in scope seeing male lactatin as an extream responce to war or drugs, but it IS not all that uncommon in other animals.

 

all you have to do is goolge the words male lactation and you'll come up with hundreds, if not thousands of reputable websites verifying this phenomena. I've seen it on Discovery channel, I think it was, and I saw the man squeeze his nipple and the milk squirt out. You can't believe everything you see on tv, but I choose to believe this.

That is how the man on TV did it. He followed the procedure for adoptive nursing, pumping his breasts at least six times every day, and it took four or five months to get any milk, and then it wasn't very much. But he was indeed lactating.

 

I always loved Ripley's Believe it or Not!

 

Having some fluid come out of one's breast is NOT full lactation. I remain steadfast, as a trained Lactation Consultant, who understands what is NEEDED in order to lactate, both structurally and hormonally, in knowing that this is a rare, if usually impossible task for a male. WHY would any man want this? In addition to the effort and frustration, the actual act of even causing a few drops to issue forth, (not enough to nourish a child) could cause infertility in the man. I don't see the point, of going to this much trouble, for something so obviously unneeded for a man to do.

Many WOMYN, who have the equipment and the hormones to lactate have problems, someone with NO develped glandular tissue, and a hormonal setup which is an antagonist to the hormonal setup which lactation requires, is rarely, if ever going to attain FULL lactation. A few squirts of fluid is NOT sustainable lactation. It is an anomoly, which is associated with hormonal and pituitrary health problems. As well as certain types of cancer, not the action of a healthy, testosterone driven male.

Men don't grow DUCTS in puberty, without ducts you cannot make enough milk to nourish a child. Milk has to be MADE somewhere, beleiving it is the equivelant to believing that a womyn who is able to ejaculate is making sperm and "could" impregnate a lover. She isn't. Nor can most men lactate.

I am trained in SCIENCE, not urban myths. There may be a rare man who can make milk in measurable quantities, but physiology dictates that FULL lactation is not something that the vast majority of men are able to attain.

The stuff from the Unassisted Childbirth site is nothing but anecdotes, which are opinons and have no science behind them. This site, I might add, is not admired by either the lactation community, nor most people who work in responsible childbirth assistance careers. Wiki's articles can be written by anyone, and I saw NO medical or scientific references. I'm not impressed.

I am not trying to be difficult. But I know lactation well, babies WILL suck on a nipple, that, however, is not full lactation. Lactation is the realm of females, because they are equipped to do it. Maybe fruitbats lactate, but they also FLY and see in near darkness, AFAIK, no human male does either of these, I don't see how the reference to fruitbats is in any way helpful in learning the physiology of the human male.

Really, this is pure science, and wanting something to be true, and having a few people give suspect anecdotes, is not science.

 

I just did this. (googled it)

There are less than 80 hits, most of them repeats and requotes of each other, with all the "references" the same TWO (and only the two) which Destroyo supplied, and which contain absolutely no medical or scientific information. (I refused to click on the Porn related hits, which this search brought up, there were quite a few among the 80 hits my Google search brought up.) I saw little reputable or scientific. With the exception of the description of pituitary cancer and castration causing quasilactation meaning just drops of fluid issuing from the nipples of men with serious hormonal problems.

 

eh, in dui class they said that if'n guys smoke pot they'll grow breasts & lactate. state of florida sez it's true, so it MUST be... lol!!!

 

It comes from a member of the Bush family, it's gotta be true.

They also tell womyn if they smoke pot, they won't be able to make milk. (Neither is true.) Those Bush boys, what a hoot they are.

 

I think I believe Maggie. That Unassisted Childbirth has a recipe for infant replacement milk that included honey. Can't give honey to infants, anybody responsible and legit knows this. It would have been cool though if a man could share the load.