Transgender women can breastfeed, first case study shows

MIAMI: The first scientific case study has been published describing how a US transgender woman was able to breastfeed her adopted infant by taking hormones that induce lactation.

But experts say more research is needed to determine if the milk is nutritious and safe for babies.The report in the journal Transgender Health describes a 30-year-old transgender woman who was born male and had been taking feminizing hormone therapy for six years. She had not undergone any genital or breast surgeries.

She sought medical advice because her partner was pregnant but was not interested in breastfeeding “and she hoped to take on the role of being the primary food source for her infant,” said the report, led by researchers at Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine in New York.

The patient followed a regimen previously shown to induce lactation in women, including increased estradiol and progesterone, and was told to use a breast pump for five minutes per breast three times a day. She also obtained an anti-nausea drug called domperidone from Canada that is used off-label to boost milk production.

Domperidone is not approved in the United States, due to the US Food and Drug Administration´s concern that it may lead to cardiac arrest — and its unknown risks to breastfeeding infants.