Technically, the answer is “yes.” Men and women, after all, start off much the same in utero. That’s why men have nipples. Men do have milk ducts and some mammary tissue. Whether a man can produce enough milk to sustain an infant is unclear. Some male mammals do lactate. The Dayak fruit bat definitely lactates. Occasionally, male goats lactate (it is not clear on exactly what occasions. Perhaps holidays).
One of the disturbing facts that no one tells you about newborns is that they sometimes lactate. This is due to their exposure to the mother’s hormones during labor. Both male and female newborns lactate. This is uniformly creepy and can add to the horror new parents feel when they find that they have brought home crib larvae instead of a Gerber baby. The lactation is brief and only lasts for a few days. There are no reports on whether anyone has ever tried to feed a baby its own milk.
There is many an urban legend about a brave man who has defied the odds and breastfed his starving child when the mother has tragically perished. It is difficult, however, to find documented cases of lactating men. Whether this is because they are afraid they will be shunned by their bowling league is unclear.
According to Laura Shanley, her husband David was able to produce milk by stimulating his nipples. It must be acknowledged that that this is on a website that touts unassisted childbirth. She also refers to a film in which a “breastfeeding expert” discusses breastfeeding men while she’s in a bubble bath. However, she cites some scientific evidence that men have been able to lactate when they’ve appropriately stimulated their nipples. They can use a breast pump to do this. Adoptive mothers sometimes use breast pumps to stimulate lactation so that they can nurse their adopted babies. Some are successful; others are not. Some adoptive mothers are only able to produce a small amount of milk but feel that this success benefits their relationship with their new babies.
When adoptive mothers try to stimulate milk production, they often receive drugs that stimulate milk production. These drugs may induce lactation in men, although doctors aren’t likely to prescribe them for male patients. When drugs are combined with regular stimulation, lactation is likely. It’s not unheard of and if you don’t believe me, check YouTube. Michael Tomsen of Slate went on a quest to produce milk but ultimately gave up when he failed to lactate after seven weeks. There is a popular story about a 38 year old Sri Lankan man who breastfed his two infant daughters after his wife died in childbirth 2002. One of the babies refused formula so he popped it on his man boob. Evidently he could produce milk right away and it was witnessed by a doctor. This story is extremely popular on breastfeeding blogs. I have not found any reports of the story on a reputable news source. I did find one picture of a man who could be Sri Lankan holding a baby to his nipple which could be producing milk but that’s the most detail I could find.
There is also a bible verse that refers to men breastfeeding: Isaiah 49:23 “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” I would be interested to know how Jim Bob Duggar interprets this particular verse. Has he been inspired to suckle any of his herd?
There is one question you might be asking yourself “Why would a man want to breastfeed?” There are a variety of reasons. Women often discuss the bond that develops when they nurse their baby. Single men and male couples sometimes adopt infants and would like to be able to nurse. Breastfeeding is also a great way to soothe a baby although many people find that a pacifier works almost as well. Men probably would like the bonding experiences although they are probably not looking to experience mastitis or leakage at inappropriate moments. If they are able to nurse, will they need to wear breast pads? What about nursing bras? I wonder if they will need to rub lanolin on their nipples?
So, the possibility of a man sustaining his child through breastfeeding is not likely but is probably unexplored for the most part. If you intend to research this topic further, you should know that there is an entirely different topic that goes by the name “men breastfeeding” which is a very specific sexual fetish. So, you may want to be careful about entering these search terms at work.
Image: Cheezburger
