# Do You Know Any Men Who Breastfeed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635 "2003-11-27T23:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheekyMonkey613](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@CheekyMonkey613](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheekyMonkey613)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/1 "2003-11-27T23:18:18Z")
A few years ago, a very respected Montreal doctor was on a radio talkshow, as a guest. One man called in regarding how much body fat he would need in order to be able to breast feed. He explained that his wife almost died while giving birth, therefore she was on birth control and could not breast feed. He was a triathlete, and had a very low body fat percentage. He wanted to know what the minimum body fat percent he would need in order to produce milk, and breastfeed their newborn daughter. Without missing a beat, the doctor replied he needed AT LEAST 4% body fat. The doctor then explained to the listeners that milk would be produced after several sessions of the baby sucking on his nipple. MY QUESTION IS: Do you know of ANY man who has done this before? If so, what were the family dynamics that lead to that decision? Thank You PS: To all men out there who didn’t want this secret out, LOL SORRY! Now you can do the breastpump thing also! ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/2 "2003-11-27T23:20:26Z")
welcome. I like your username. I seriously doubt men could produce breast milk. Wouldn’t it take a mess up of hormones? ---
**Author:** ![CheekyMonkey613](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@CheekyMonkey613](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheekyMonkey613)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/3 "2003-11-27T23:23:34Z")
Hi Vanilla … Actually, apparently it’s not such a big deal at all! Who knew? You can “Google” it and find all kinds of sites about it. Try this one, for example: [http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/milkmen.htm](http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/milkmen.htm) (Sorry, haven’t figured out how to do a hotlink yet) ---
**Author:** ![JaxBeachBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@JaxBeachBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaxBeachBoy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/4 "2003-11-27T23:42:43Z")
is it even possible to live with LESS than 4% body fat? 15% is considered lean for a man, and 10% is superb. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/5 "2003-11-28T00:06:26Z")
Wow. From [Babycenter.com:](http://www.babycenter.com/expert/baby/babybreastfeed/8824.html) > [@](#): > > Male breasts have milk ducts, sinuses, and some mammary tissue. They also have oxytocin and prolactin, the hormones responsible for milk production. There have been reports of men who were able to produce milk through extensive breast and nipple stimulation, but no one knows whether the milk was of the same composition or quality as the kind women produce. You learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![Extraneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@Extraneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extraneous)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/6 "2003-11-28T01:31:34Z")
IIRC, there was a case in the early 80’s of a Dr. going public with the info that, 9 years earlier, a man had wanted to share the nursing experience, so the Dr. gave him hormone treatments, and he successfully nursed his daughter. Am I the only one who has ever heard the term “witch’s milk”? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/7 "2003-11-28T01:43:43Z")
There’s an old Norse legend of a man who, the mother having died or whatever, nursed a baby. “First blood came, and then milk”, it said. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/8 "2003-11-28T01:59:37Z")
I can’t even recall a thread this disturbing in recent memory. ---
**Author:** ![Extraneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@Extraneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extraneous)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/9 "2003-11-28T03:00:33Z")
How about breast cancer in men? How many have heard of that? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/10 "2003-11-28T03:57:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Extraneous \* > \*\*How about breast cancer in men? How many have heard of that? \*\* Breast cancer in men is rare, but quite well-documented in the medical/scientific literature. There is no doubt that it exists. Male lactation however, is not so well documented. It is seen with certain pituitary tumors, drugs, and anything else which induces prolactic production. And some societies have been noted where the males pacify infants by putting them to their breasts. But male lactation as a normal physiological response by nipple stimulation alone is something that has not been conclusively established, as far as I can discover. QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![Extraneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@Extraneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extraneous)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/11 "2003-11-28T05:56:49Z")
QtM - have YOU heard the expression (sorry about the pun) “witch’s milk” - a clear, sticky fluid produced by both female and male babies at birth, or is that your basic “Old wives’ tale”? The explanation I heard was that mom was so full of hormones, they produced lactation in the fetus in embryo - T or F? ---
**Author:** ![Extraneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@Extraneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extraneous)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/12 "2003-11-28T06:00:10Z")
sigh, make that “in utero”… ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/13 "2003-11-28T07:11:33Z")
My uncle died of breast cancer four years ago, after having fought the disease for six years. I suppose I’m more aware of it than most people would be. I always thought my husband could breastfeed, too, if he just _wanted_ to badly enough. I think I’ll start to consider it a lack of commitment that he never took it up. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/14 "2003-11-28T11:58:16Z")
About fifty (American) men die a year from breast cancer. (About one a week, the same as the number of Americans who drown in five gallon buckets each year.) One a week. Easy number to remember. I think Esquire did an article on it a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/15 "2003-11-28T12:18:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Extraneous \* > \*\*QtM - have YOU heard the expression (sorry about the pun) “witch’s milk” - a clear, sticky fluid produced by both female and male babies at birth, or is that your basic “Old wives’ tale”? > > The explanation I heard was that mom was so full of hormones, they produced lactation in the fetus in embryo - T or F? \*\* Well, I’m not Qadgop, and I’m not a doctor, but I’ve had kids and I’ve read the “Don’t Freak Out If Your Newborn Looks Like This” sections of baby books. “Witch’s milk” seems to be a pretty well-documented phenomenon, although I’ve never heard it described as a “clear, sticky fluid”. Mammary glands produce milk, and can’t produce anything else. However, the earliest milk - colostrum - sometimes has a clear portion, and all human milk can seem sticky when it’s half-dried, so that might explain the description. I don’t think it’s too common, though. More often, the baby has temporarily swollen “breasts” and/or genitals at birth due to the mother’s hormones. One of my boys had both, the other had neither. It’s pretty damn amazing to see such a tiny little creature with such a big surprise hiding in his diaper :eek: Fortunately, both the swelling and the parental panic go away on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/16 "2003-11-28T12:36:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vanilla \* > \*\*welcome. > I like your username. > > I seriously doubt men could produce breast milk. Wouldn’t it take a mess up of hormones? \*\* If you injected men with prolactin and oxytocin, there is no reason why they couldnt produce milk and breastfeed babies. Men already have the nipple and all of the breast ducts necessary to produce milk and to nurse. I’m not sure what the dosage would have to be, I have never seen a case where it was done, but I dont see any reason why it couldnt be done. However, I dont think their milk glands are big enough to provide enough milk, but if men also took estrogen, that would increase the size of their breasts and milk ducts abling them to provide the necessary quantity of milk. The effects of estrogen are slower, so he would have to take estrogen long before the baby was born, at least a year to insure adequate milk production, and then prolactin and oxytocin could then be taken around delivery time, maybe also utilizing a breast pump near the time of birth, could get everything going and ready for baby. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/17 "2003-11-28T12:41:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Paul in Saudi \* > \*\*About fifty (American) men die a year from breast cancer. (About one a week, the same as the number of Americans who drown in five gallon buckets each year.) > > One a week. Easy number to remember. > > I think Esquire did an article on it a few years ago. \*\* "Breast Cancer in Men Though far less common than in women, it is possible for men to develop breast cancer. In the year 2000, the American Cancer Society estimates that 1,400 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in men and approximately 400 men will die from breast cancer. Male breast cancers account for approximately 1% of all breast cancer cases. Approximately 20% of men with breast cancer have close female relatives who have (or have had) breast cancer. " [http://imaginis.com/breasthealth/bcmen.asp](http://imaginis.com/breasthealth/bcmen.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/18 "2003-11-28T14:58:14Z")
As a man, I think I’m going to have very strange dreams after reading this thread… _twitch_ ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/19 "2003-11-28T15:40:36Z")
You know, I came into this thread with a very wrong idea regarding what it was about. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635/20 "2003-11-28T18:27:10Z")
I once dated a guy who produced milk when his nipples were aroused. He was “manly” looking (dark and hairy!) and in perfect health. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-men-who-breastfeed/215635.md?page=2)