Is men's breast milk nourishing?

[davenportavenger]

A post by Shirley Ujest in this thread got me to wondering, is breast milk created by someone who is genetically male nourishing to an infant? I know that men with increased estrogen (either because of aging, a medical condition, or HRT–and no, I’m not calling trans women men because I know they’re not, but I can’t think of a better way to phrase it) can produce milk, but would it be the type fit for a baby? For that matter, women can produce milk when they’re not breast feeding, as the side effect of HRT or certain medications. Would this “off-season” milk be fit for a baby to drink?

(And no, I am not a Surreal sock.)

[Edward_The_Head]

While I don’t have an answer, I have a related question. Women who plan on adopting can begin pumping for a few months and have their milk come in. Can a man, without taking drugs, do the same thing? What happens to a man’s milk ducts, or do they just not have them at all? I was always under the impression that though different men and women all have the same parts, just some not used.

[WhyNot]

Yes, male milk is identical to female milk, although women produce more mlk and can store more milk between feedings.

It’s still pretty rare. This father from Sri Lanka is probably the best known modern man who breastfeeds. The men in the African Aka tribe take 47% of the child care duties, and their babies suckle, although the article isn’t totally clear on how much, if any, milk the babies are getting from their fathers.

No less a personage than Dustin Hoffman lactated when his grandchild was born:

Meet the Fockers star Dustin Hoffman is celebrating after becoming a first-time grandfather earlier this month - but the good news has led to him developing breastfeeding urges. His daughter Jenna and her husband Seamus welcomed their son Augustus into the world just three weeks ago, and doting granddad Hoffman admits the experience has given him strange desires. He says, “I have felt almost the tendency to lactate. We don’t realize, but when we’re formed in the womb, we have milk glands, before we’re differentiated between male or female and before God knows whether to make you male of female. When you think about it, why should men have nipples? And yet we do. I didn’t think about it until I started to drip!”

This is an interesting site on Milkmen , which includes stories and links. It seems as if there’s a BBC series in the works on male lactation.

@Edward The Head

Can a man, without taking drugs, do the same thing? What happens to a man’s milk ducts, or do they just not have them at all? I was always under the impression that though different men and women all have the same parts, just some not used.

Yes, although most male lactation occurs because of drugs or tumors. It has been known to happen when a man is under great stress and not on hormones, though. “Extreme stress combined with demanding physical activity and a shortage of food has also been known to cause male lactation. The phenomenon was first studied in survivors of the liberated Nazi concentration camps after World War II. Some American POWs returning from the Korean and Vietnam Wars also experienced male lactation.”

And the first story on the Milkmen site above is about a man who simply decided he’d start lactating and did.