Monday, November 7, 2011

Lactating Men


In modern society, the roles of men and women have been switching, with many women taking on the work field and many men becoming stay at home dads.  With this trend increasing, soon enough dads might even begin breastfeeding. That’s right! You didn’t read wrong, I didn’t spell anything wrong; it is true that men themselves can breastfeed. Think about it, men do have nipples, or mammary papilla, which include the mammary glands that create milk. Men also have oxytocin  and prolactin, the hormones responsible for making milk.  It is a common misconception that men cannot produce milk, but as we are growing in the womb as fetuses our body creates certain body parts regardless of sex, and this includes mammary papilla. It is the male hormones that suppress the function of these glands that secrete milk. Also, men usually do not create this much milk because they do not have enough estrogen. Therefore by taking estrogen pills a man can nurse a baby. However, there have been some cases where men say they just thought about doing it and they began to create milk. How this cognitive process works we are still unsure. Other male mammals can also breastfeed, such as bats and penguins. A man does not have to be overweight to breastfeed either; the tissue will grow as the man creates milk.

 Men being able to breastfeed can be looked at an evolutionary standpoint. If a mother died of sickness or was killed, the father could still care and nurture for the baby. I think more men beginning to breastfeed would be beneficial, and work well with today’s society. Often men feel like they are not as strongly connected to the baby as women are, but with men breastfeeding they can share this same connection. This can be also beneficial to men who are not married but may want to adopt babies. There have been cases where the men’s body “learned” to breastfeed the adopted baby after about twelve weeks. When Dustin Hoffman, off of Meet the Fockers, became a grandfather, he admitted to having urges of lactating, and even produced milk. Another story says that a young boy received a puppy as a gift and after creating a close connection with the puppy started to lactate just like he was the puppy’s father (or mother). So not just fathers, but any man can create milk. I also think this would be helpful in today’s society, because with more women working, they may not be around as much, but also be stressed. Stress causes women to stop creating milk. This was an evolutionary advantage because years ago “stress” usually meant a lack of resources, so the body was saving the woman’s resources. Male nursing may also make it easier for babies to be fed in public places because it is much easier for a man to be around people without a shirt on. Also, men’s breastmilk, in combination with the woman’s breastmilk can help strengthen the babies’ immune system and make it healthier. I think it would be an interesting thing to research if male milk is different from a female’s since there is not much information on it.

Soo what do you guys think? As a women would you like to have your man help breastfeed? And men...do u think you would like to breastfeed your baby? I personally think a man breastfeeding his baby makes him even more of a man.  For more info read: http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/milkmen.html

13 comments:

  1. I must say, you went outside of the box with this post, and trust me that is a good thing!! That is an interesting concept. In today's society, traditionally, as what I know of, fathers tend to be the "pushers" for their children. While, mothers are the "nuturers". Offspring develop from the nuture of their mothers. Imprinting tends to take place within the mother, because the mother is connected right at birth with the child. If a male was able to breast feed, would this mean that he would not be as much of a enforcement, and more of a caregiver? Could this be better off for the child? http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2005-07/1121456585.An.r.html

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  3. Interesting blog as it discusses a topic that has always been thought of as one biological way, and I did not know that that was really even possible.

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  4. Based on the observations of our own genertation who might have to do this, it is very unlikely for our men to do that. It all depends on how they were raised. For example, if they had a gud connection with both parents who were loving and had no issues with them then it is possible. However if he was in a family that was always agruing, got into phyiscal fights with their family and was tesed if they would cry (a sign of weakness) then he might not choose to help his wife and decide to build himself a strong and firm body (being hesitante to give up his power to soft and sensitive breasts).

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  5. I thought that the hormones necessary for lactation were produced during pregnancy. Therefore if there are males capable of lactation wouldn't that simply mean they have a severe hormone imbalance?

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  6. @USafdar: The hormones are always there, but they get released when the woman has the baby, and the baby trying to breastfeed stimulates the secretion of these hormones, so the person does not have to be pregnant to release these hormones. Also all men have these hormones so it is possible. For more info: http://www.breastfeedingbasics.org/cgi-bin/deliver.cgi/content/Anatomy/physiology.html
    @Kristianna&ChelseaRose:I think it definately depends on the man if they want to breastfeed, and right now might not many men may actually do this, but I think some may, and if more men start to do it it wont be looked at as an "unmanly" thing. Also I think man would become more of the nurtures, but instead of switching roles I think it could mean both the father and mother are nurturers and pushers, which I believe would be beneficial to the child.

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  7. @Kristianna...Interesting Article. I am not sure if not all men are able to produce milk or if a mother has to be absent for most men to start lactating, because there were alot of stories of men being able to breastfeed. It is something that still needs to be examined.

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  8. So since a baby attempting to breastfeed secretes the hormones necessary to lactate you are saying that if I attempted to breastfeed a baby right now I could?

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  9. possibly...it might take awhile tho since you are not the actual father..you might have to take estrogen pills. You could try if you want and let me know.

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  10. If we are talking about from an evolutionary standpoint, it would NOT be helpful for a male to be able to make sure the child survives, but instead, to mate with as many partners are possible to make as many offsprings. Having to take care of offsprings will make time for courting and mateing less. Also, being a social species, other mothers can take care of offsprings for the dead mother.

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  11. But if I have to take pills to do it wouldn't that mean that it is not a natural process for me to do?

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  12. @shanesmith: I guess that could be right but I think a father would still want to nurture his child to keep it alive
    @USafdar...The reason you might have to take pills is because your not the father of the baby...but in some cases it has been done without the adopted father taking pills. As I said if you wanna try for me and let me know how it goes without pills that would be great.

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  13. This would be a major change in society as well as in the perceived roles of what the woman should do and what the man should do. It seems like this kind of behavior would be an equalizing factor between men and women and help the man really help the growth and development process of the children, so as a result it would be a great evolutionary benefit for the father (an added assurance of his genes being passed on, in addition to the mother's caring for the baby and breastfeeding) and the child (more food and care being given to them).

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