\n<\/p>\n
The University of Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (USHT) announced that drug-induced lactation for transgender \u201cchestfeeding\u201d is similar to a biological woman\u2019s lactation.<\/p>\n
USHT wrote in a letter that transgender individuals may take drugs to induce lactation \u201ccomparable to that produced following the birth of a baby,\u201d according to a report from The Telegraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n Transgender individuals may take hormones such as progestin and lactation drugs to bring about \u201cchestfeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n One leading lactation drug, Domperidone, also known as Motilum, may negatively affect a baby\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n \u201cMotilium may cause unwanted side effects affecting the heart in a breast-fed baby,\u201d a warning reads<\/a>. \u201cMotilium should be used during breast feeding only if your physician considers this clearly necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n To defend its claim that biological males may \u201cchestfeed,\u201d USHT cited a 2022 study finding that \u201cmilk testosterone concentrations\u201d were under one percent with \u201cno observable side effects\u201d in infants. The study provided no long-term data.<\/p>\n Lottie Moore of the British think tank Policy Exchange said USHT is \u201cunbalanced and na\u00efve in its assertion that the secretions produced by a male on hormones can nourish an infant in the way a mother\u2019s breast milk can.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0\u201cHealth Equity Considerations\u201d that endorses transgender individuals \u201cchestfeeding\u201d a baby despite obvious health risks.<\/p>\n One of the \u201creminders\u201d in the considerations<\/a> is that \u201ctransgender and nonbinary-gendered individuals may give birth and breastfeed or feed at the chest (chestfeed),\u201d noting that \u201can individual does not need to have given birth to breastfeed or chestfeed.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2022, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine issued a\u00a0guide<\/a>\u00a0advising hospitals and health care professionals to use more \u201cgender-inclusive\u201d language.<\/p>\n