SICKENING: UK healthcare body claims hormone-induced milk from men is nutrious for babies

A British healthcare organization overseeing multiple hospitals released a statement asserting that milk from biological males, obtained through hormone treatment, is equally nutritious for infants as traditional breast milk from mothers.

Dr. Rachael James, the Medical Director of the University of Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (USHT) — noted for pioneering the use of terms like "chestfeeding" and "birthing parent"— addressed a letter in August to Children of Transitioners.

In it, she argued that the phrase "human milk," referred to as the optimal nourishment for babies, is designed to be inclusive and free from gender bias.

She also stated: “Medications are sometimes used to induce lactation, similar to the natural hormones which encourage lactation to develop when the baby is newly born although occasionally some people are able to induce lactation without hormonal treatment. The evidence which is available demon­strates that the milk is compar­able to that produced following the birth of a baby.”

She added that “staff further clarify that the term human milk is meant to be neutral and is not gender-biased.”

The USHT referenced a 2022 research that examined “infant milk testosterone concentrations” and found “no observable infant side effects” in babies fed milk from lactating bioligical men. However, according to the Daily Mail, this study faced rejection from experts.

In 2021, USHT created Great Britain’s “first clinical and language guidelines supporting trans and non-binary birthing people” in which it declared that asserted that men who had taken hormones produced milk “comparable to that produced following the birth of a baby.”

Lottie Moore, who serves as the head of quality and identity at Policy Exchange — the organization that uncovered the letter — stated: “This letter is unbalanced and naive in its assertion that the secretions produced by a male on hormones can nourish an infant in the way a mother’s breast milk can. A child’s welfare must always take precedence over identity politics and contested belief systems that are not evidence-based. The NHS should not be indulging in this nonsense.”

A spokesman for USHT stated, “We stand by the facts of the letter and the cited evidence supporting them.”

 

Ian Miles Cheong

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Ian Miles Cheong is a freelance writer, graphic designer, journalist and videographer. He’s kind of a big deal on Twitter.

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