Dad Rejected As Breast-feeding Group Leader - Trevor MacDonald may be transgender but says his nursing experience qualifies him to run the group. Breastfeeding Dad Raises New Questions About Motherhood, Up until last week the great breastfeeding debate was centered on where to do it and for how long. But Trevor MacDonald, a 27-year-old transgender parent, has raised an ever bigger question: who gets to do it?
The Winnipeg-based MacDonald has been chronicling his unique breastfeeding experience in photos and anecdotes on his blog for almost a year. But he gained national exposure this month, after a disagreement with La Leche League, an international breastfeeding support organization, over their definition on motherhood.
After nursing his now 16-month-old son, Jacob, he hoped to become a coach for one of the club’s local support groups, but was informed only women could serve as group leaders.
MacDonald was born a female but transitioned to a male at age 23 through a course of hormone treatments and chest contouring surgery. “I retained my female reproductive organs, but I felt (and still feel) fully male, and anybody seeing me on the street would never guess that I’m anything but a regular dude,” he writes in an Out Magazine article published in April. He also firmly identifies himself as a father, rather than a mother.
He also identifies himself as homosexual (“yes, I’m that complicated,” he quips) and wed his husband before becoming pregnant with their child. Before giving birth naturally he found about a breastfeeding method for women who’ve had mastectomies.
His main goal was providing his newborn with the kind of nutrients only breast milk can provide. (The World Health Organization recommends breast milk for at least the first six months of a child’s life.) Through SNS, a tubular device that connects a bottle to the nipple area so the child can simulate the experience of nursing, MacDonald began feeding his son, supplementing his own minimal production with lactation donations.
The Winnipeg-based MacDonald has been chronicling his unique breastfeeding experience in photos and anecdotes on his blog for almost a year. But he gained national exposure this month, after a disagreement with La Leche League, an international breastfeeding support organization, over their definition on motherhood.
After nursing his now 16-month-old son, Jacob, he hoped to become a coach for one of the club’s local support groups, but was informed only women could serve as group leaders.
MacDonald was born a female but transitioned to a male at age 23 through a course of hormone treatments and chest contouring surgery. “I retained my female reproductive organs, but I felt (and still feel) fully male, and anybody seeing me on the street would never guess that I’m anything but a regular dude,” he writes in an Out Magazine article published in April. He also firmly identifies himself as a father, rather than a mother.
He also identifies himself as homosexual (“yes, I’m that complicated,” he quips) and wed his husband before becoming pregnant with their child. Before giving birth naturally he found about a breastfeeding method for women who’ve had mastectomies.
His main goal was providing his newborn with the kind of nutrients only breast milk can provide. (The World Health Organization recommends breast milk for at least the first six months of a child’s life.) Through SNS, a tubular device that connects a bottle to the nipple area so the child can simulate the experience of nursing, MacDonald began feeding his son, supplementing his own minimal production with lactation donations.
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