A trans activist faced conservative backlash when a viral TikTok video revealed her efforts to induce lactation to breastfeed her youngest child, as reported by The Post Millennial.
Post-Millennial writer Libby Emmons authored an article titled “Transgender ‘mother’ announces he took hormones to create milk-like substance from his n*pples that he plans to feed to his baby,” in which she misgenders Naomi throughout.
Writer: There’s No Way You Can Have Breastmilk
“Whatever nominal.naomi is secreting from his male breasts, however, is not mother’s milk. There is no evidence to suggest that males who ingest estradiol, progesterone, spironolactone, and domperidone, which is not on the market in the US, produce the nutrient-rich nourishment provided by actual women who actually mother and nurse their young,” Emmons writes.
Later in the article, Emmons refers to Naomi as a f*tishist and claims it is male privilege to believe that Naomi can “take the place of a natural mother by ingesting drugs to induce ‘lactation,’ can feed a baby the fake, drug-induced ‘milk’ from your body, all because you wish it, and to further claim that it is society, and not biology, that is keeping you from living out this f*tish for all the world to see.”
Can transwomen Actually breastfeed?
There have been documented cases of transwomen successfully lactating. One of the earliest medically documented cases was published as a case study in 2018.
Authored by Tamar Reisman and Zil Goldstein and published on Open Access website liebertpub.com, the study focused on an anonymous 30-year-old transwoman who successfully used the Newman Goldfarb protocol to induce lactation.
In the study, titled “Case Report: Induced Lactation in a Transgender Woman,” Reisman and Goldstein report that “[three] and a half months after she had started the mentioned regimen, the baby was born weighing 6 lbs 13 oz.
The patient breastfed exclusively for 6 weeks. During that time, the child’s pediatrician reported that the child’s growth, feeding, and bowel habits were developmentally appropriate.”
How It Works
The Newman Goldfarb protocols are a series of medical approaches to induce lactation without pregnancy.
Developed by breastfeeding experts Jack Newman and Lenore Goldfarb in 2000, the protocol followed by the unnamed transwoman in the Reisman-Goldstein report is the “regular protocol,” which involves administering high doses of active birth control and domperidone, a medication that increases prolactin, the breastfeeding hormone.
The protocol also requires regular pumping to trigger, increase, and sustain milk production.
“Studies have shown that if the breastmilk of a mother who has induced lactation is compared to that of a birth mother’s breastmilk at 10 days postpartum, there is virtually no difference,” Goldfarb said on her website AskLenore.com.
Why would a transwoman want to breastfeed?
“[The patient] explained that her partner was pregnant but not interested in breastfeeding and that she hoped to take on the role of being the primary food source for her infant,” Reisman and Goldstein report in their case study. “Breastfeeding offers immunological, metabolic, and psychosocial benefits for both mother and infant.”
“Breastfeeding is the biological norm, honed by evolution over hundreds of thousands of years,” according to the Hospital Infant Feeding Network, a UK-based coalition of health professionals seeking to promote breastfeeding.
The Benefits of Breastmilk
“Human milk contains thousands of active components with nutritive and immunological properties, as well as many others such as stem cells. The composition of human milk changes as the baby gets older, as the environment changes, and in response to pathogens encountered by infant and parent.
Breastfeeding is associated with epigenetic changes detectable at 10 years of age. Unsurprisingly infant formula, therefore, increases the risk of disease, particularly those related to immune and inflammatory processes.”
A Growing Interest in Induced Lactation
In a survey authored in 2020 by Emily Trautner, Megan McCool-Myers, and Andrea Braden Joyner and published by the National Institute of Health, the authors said that out of 82 medical professionals surveyed, “One-third of respondents (34%) stated that they have met trans women who expressed interest in inducing lactation […] and 91% believe there is a need for specialized protocols for trans women.”
In her viral TikTok, Naomi said that choosing to breastfeed using the Newman Goldfarb protocol has been “a very cool, and very interesting experience. It’s like, very biologically affirming.”
READ NEXT: Transgender Man Wants To Use The Male Toilets But Feels Uncomfortable— Seeks Advice On Social Media
What has the response been?
In response to the article on The Post Millennial, Naomi shared screenshots of the article on X, and said, “Just finished my morning pumping, and I can confirm for you that it is indeed breastmilk.
I can cite peer-reviewed journal articles about lactation in trans women, but they might be too hard for you to read because your Post Millennial is written at an elementary school level.”
Just finished my morning pumping and I can confirm for you that it is indeed breastmilk.
— nominal.naomi (@nominalnaomi) May 23, 2023
I can cite peer-reviewed journal articles about lactation in trans women, but they might be too hard for you to read because your Post Millennial is written at an elementary school level. pic.twitter.com/1mSc4lpgXf
X Users Enraged
Comments on X were largely negative. Many commenters referred to Naomi as a man, a f*tishist, and a p*rvert, several of them referencing Naomi’s OnlyF*ns and Fansly.
Morgonn McMichael, a contributor for Turning Point USA, a controversial conservative activism group, commented on the post, “This is a p*rverted f*tish being acted out – truly disgusting seeing a mentally I’ll[sic] man have a child and now try to produce milk. How is this even real.”
TikTok Took It Positively
Comments on Naomi’s posts on TikTok were largely positive, however, with many commenters congratulating her and more expressing that they were unaware that trans women could induce lactation.
User tiny bean said, “I just learned that a few weeks ago, and was like??!!!!! magic medicine! But it makes sense. It’s a hormone thing, put hormones, be milk.”
This article was produced by TPR Teaching.
READ MORE:
- “Deeply Offensive”: School Told Native American To Cut Long Hair And Comply With Grooming Policy
- “Pornographic” Literature Found in Middle School Library Made 11-Year-Old “Uncomfortable”
I'm an Irish tutor and founder of TPR Teaching. I started teaching in 2016 and have since taught in the UK, Spain, and online.
I love learning new things about the English language and how to teach it better. I'm always trying to improve my knowledge, so I can better meet the needs of others!
I enjoy traveling, nature walks, and soaking up a new culture. Please share the posts if you find them helpful!