A MtF trans person became the first recorded case of a biological male breastfeeding a baby. The male, whose partner gave birth to the newborn, took on the role of breastfeeding when the partner declined to do so.
Lactation was induced with medication, meaning the baby consumed the medication in the milk and could possibly suffer ill effects later on. The case was documented in a Transgender Health journal.
The MtF trans was able to breastfeed the baby for six weeks, said Tamar Reisman, who co-authored the journal report.
“We want to present our patients with the full range of reproductive choices, and this is one step closer to that,” Reisman said.
Reisman, an endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, said doctors used protocols for “non-puerperal induced lactation,” which means the mammary gland is stimulated to secrete milk.
The patient, who had not undergone gender reassignment surgeries, started a hormone regimen — the diuretic Spironolactone to suppress testosterone and a galactagogue to mimic the hormonal stage of pregnancy and to increase the flow of breast milk, according to the case study.
A month into the treatment plan, the person was producing “droplets” of milk, and three months in, he was producing about 8 ounces of milk per day, according to the study.
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