A guidance from the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine is making the rounds on social media after evolutionary biologist Colin Wright noticed it was recommending the term “father’s milk” as a gender affirming alternative to “breast milk.”
The US-based Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) is a top organization of medical doctors providing support and guidance to healthcare practitioners around the world. But on July 26, evolutionary biologist and journalist Colin Wright called attention to a position statement form the organization in which it issued a guideline on ‘gender inclusive language.’
The guidance, titled Infant Feeding and Lactation-Related Language and Gender, was published in the 16th volume of the Academy’s official Journal, which was issued in August of 2021.
“We affirm that language has power. This is demonstrated in linguistic relativity and determinism, both theories explaining how the structure of a language impacts thought and behavior,” the introduction to the guidance reads, continuing that it supports the United Nation’s mission to end discrimination against LGBTI people, and “To this end, the ABM is committed to working with communities to identify additional inclusive language and behaviors to attain these goals.”
Later in the guidance, the ABM states that it “recognizes that not all people who give birth and lactate identify as female, and that some of these individuals identify as neither female nor male.”
Wright posted a screenshot from the third page of the article, highlighting where the Academy suggests “father’s milk” as a “gender-inclusive” alternative to breast milk. “Parent’s milk” and “human milk” were also listed, to be used where patients desired “affirmation.”
While the article initially states that “male” and “female” are biological terms which refer to sex, it repeatedly states that “nonfemale” people could be included in birth- and feeding-related language.
Reacting to the post, Wright’s followers immediately took issue with the suggested terminology, with multiple users even noting that the Spanish translation for “father’s milk” referred to male ejaculate.
According to the WayBack Machine, the Academy only recently changed the About page on its website to include a reference to “human milk feeding.”
As of July 2021, the Mission Statement read that it was dedicated to the “promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding.” But the most recent iteration of the page states that the organization exists to “support and manage breastfeeding, lactation, and human milk feeding.”
Researchers have found that women view these terms as dehumanising. A collaborative research paper led by Australian academic Karlene Gribble and included the work of 10 prominent women’s health researchers concluded that so called “inclusive language” had “serious implications for women and children.”
“Desexing the language of female reproduction has been done with a view to being sensitive to individual needs and as beneficial, kind, and inclusive,” they wrote in the paper. “Yet, this kindness has delivered unintended consequences that have serious implications for women and children.”
Gribble and her team assert that neutralizing the language around motherhood, including “disembodying and undermining breastfeeding,” would result in “reducing protection of the mother-infant [bond]” and dehumanize women.
While “father’s milk” is likely in reference to females who identify as transgender men, reports of trans-identified males seeking support from lactation consultants have also increased. On social media, many new and breast feeding mothers have also stated they’ve noticed an uptick in males attending breast-feeding groups.
In 2018, an endocrinologist from Boston Medical Center claimed that breast feeding was an important method of validating a trans-identified male’s gender identity.
In an interview with The New Scientist, Dr. Joshua Safer said: “Many transgender women are looking to have as many of the experiences of non-transgender women as they can, so I can see this will be extremely popular.”
Earlier this year, photos uploaded to Reddit of a trans-identified male breastfeeding a newborn baby went viral after sparking widespread outrage. Speaking to Reduxx at the time, retired physician Dr. Maja Bowen said she had “several concerns” about the practice of males breastfeeding children.
“What comes out of a man’s nipple is not mother’s milk, but a watery substance devoid of antibodies and nutrients that are found in mother’s milk, the composition of which changes as the baby grows up.”
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