Can Men Breast Feed?

First of all, pregnancy is not required for making milk. Many women who adopt children can also breast feed. Also, in some cultures when a mother's milk is not enough for the baby, another woman can breast feed the new born. The rule is simple, if the baby sucks there is always milk ready. When a baby suckles at the breast, hormones are produced which cause milk production to increase. The more suckling, the more milk is made. Since men have mammary gland tissue in their breasts it is possible for men to produce milk if there is enough suckling. It is also possible to stimulate male breasts by massaging or by using breast pumps to produce milk. Both male and female babies may lactate for a brief period immediately after birth because the baby gets a share of the hormones that were preparing the mother to lactate just prior to giving birth.

In recent years male lactation has become more common due to the use of medications that stimulate a man's mammary glands. Men who suffer from prostate cancer are treated with female hormones which slow down the production of cancerous prostate tissue. The same hormones also stimulate the mammary glands to produce milk. Stress is another factor which stimulates abnormal lactation in men. This phenomenon was first studied in survivors of the Nazi concentration camps after World War II.

American soldiers returning home from the Korean and Vietnam Wars also experienced male lactation. There are passages in the Bible referring to nursing fathers which tell us that a breast feeding father image was not uncommon in ancient times. In fact, some scientists believe that the breasts of the male were formerly better developed, and served, like those of the female, the purpose of nourishing the offspring. This may be clearly explicable on the assumption that at one time the number of offspring at a single birth was considerable, and that in this way the preservation of the species was favored.

A couple of months ago I found a small kitten in one of the abandoned gardens on the island where I live. The truth is, he found me. I heard an insistent meow coming from somewhere I could not locate at first. Suddenly something jumped on my shoulder from behind and immediately started sucking my shirt. Well, of course he is still with me in my apartment, still sucking my elbow while I write this. And I have the same happy face like the man in the picture of that news article from Sri Lanka.