Man Breastfeeds Baby For TV Show

“I’M going to have to pull out the pump during lectures. But really it doesn’t bother me if it makes people uncomfortable. If they have issues with it that’s their problem,” says Swedish father Ragnar Bengtsson, 26, who is trying to produce breast milk by way of a breast pump.

“Anything that doesn’t do any harm is worth trying out. And if it works it could prove very important for men’s ability to get much closer to their children at an early stage.”

Not all that surprisingly, Bengtsson has a blog - The Milkman - One Drop at a Time – and a TV crew to document his pumpings. But it’s not about the fame – well, not only. It’s about science. So can it be done? Can you milk a man?

Let’s ask an expert. Sigbritt Werner, professor of endocrinology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, says:

“Women breastfeed after they’ve been bathing in estrogen during a nine month pregnancy, so obviously it takes some time. But if he works on it regularly he’ll likely notice a layer of tissue forming beneath the areola and it should be possible to produce enough of the hormone prolactin to cause lactation.”

But breasts are about so much more than just milk:

“Men often have trouble finding things. And if the mother is out, the child is screaming and they can’t find the pacifier I’m sure there are a lot of men who give their baby their breasts.”

You’re sure…

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, September 2009 | In: Strange But True Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink