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It’s one of those days … a day when all the news I come across is either weird, wonderful or annoying as all get out.
Oooooh! I have to share!
Jumping right into the swing of it all with the, “Gee! I never would have thought of that in a bazillion eons!” category, how about “Milkmen: Fathers Who Breastfeed”?
… Male lactation is physiologically possible and, according to Dr. Robert Greenblatt, production in males can be stimulated by letting a baby suckle for several weeks. Indeed some human males secrete milk at birth and at puberty.Historically, male lactation was noted by the German explorer Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt prior to 1859, who wrote of a 32-year-old man who breastfed his child for five months. It was also observed in a 55-year-old Baltimore man who had been the wetnurse of the children of his mistress.
… I think it is safe to say that women are better suited to breastfeeding than men are. They generally produce milk soon after birth, with little or no nipple stimulation. If a mother is completely out of the picture, however, as in the case of adoption, or a mother goes back to work and a baby is left in the care of its father, for some families male breastfeeding might be an acceptable alternative to formula bottles and pacifiers.
Read all about how one guy thought about making milk for a couple of weeks, then, ta da!, had vanilla coming out of one boob and strawberry out of the other! Okay … that’s a bit of a stretch, but he did make regular breast milk, well, man milk. Really he did. It says so right on the site.
I always wondered what those masculine chest do-dads were for! Turns out, they’re DO Dads!
So, adoptive fathers, be proud, puff up that chest and start producing!
Or not.
The same website also has a section on “unassisted childbirth” … another concept I’ve gone 55 years without having crossed my mind.
For those who feel they want to parent even without the benefit of male breasts taking up some of the feeding slack, here’s a story reporting that a record number of mothers are choosing to parent alone.
The number of out-of-wedlock births has reached a record high in the U.S., with nearly four in 10 babies born last year to unmarried women, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase was seen in all racial groups.
Unlike two decades ago, teenagers – who are having fewer babies – are not driving the trend. It is fueled, in part, by women in their 30s and 40s, many of whom had put off marriage and family for careers. And single mothers have fought to remove the stigma of raising children out of wedlock.
Continued … if you dare …
