In fact, it is possible to say that in the past, scientists had various observations and theories that men could breastfeed. For example, in a review published in 1896, researchers named George Gould and Walter Pyle made the observation that men can perform a kind of babysitting like wet nurses. It is even known that scientist Alexander von Humboldt took male caregivers with them after his wife fell ill. Moreover, it is among the rumors that these caregivers can give milk.
Media company Agence France-Presse in 2002; published a story in which a woman talked about a 38-year-old man who breastfed his two children because he lost his wife after giving birth to his second child and could not breastfeed his children. So, based on these interesting examples, can we say that men can breastfeed naturally? Let’s dive deeper into this issue.
In fact, the mammary glands required for lactation are present in both men and women.
All mammals have milk-producing mammary glands in their male and female members. But when we look at the human species, the development of female mammary glands during puberty leads to milk production thanks to the rise of various hormones such as prolactin (the endocrine hormone secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland). In men, the mammary glands do not reach the maturity required to give milk. As you can see, the reason for this situation, which is different for men and women in milk production, is due to the hormonal changes experienced during puberty and pregnancy.
Although men have the necessary equipment to produce milk, in fact, men cannot produce the hormone they need to use it. That means; Men can give milk and breastfeed babies if the hormones needed to produce milk are supplemented with men.
As you can see, men can give milk with a medical intervention, but of course, this is not like giving milk naturally.
Anthropologist Dana Raphael, in her book she wrote in 1978, claimed that when men’s nipples are stimulated, breastfeeding will be triggered. Even Robert Greenblatt, an endocrinologist at the Georgia School of Medicine, agreed with him. But Jack Newman, a doctor and lactation specialist in Toronto, disagreed with both, insisting that the hormones needed for men to lactate must come into play.
In short, if men are given estrogen and prolactin by injection, it may be possible for them to give milk. It is also known that Thorazine, known as an antipsychotic, and digoxin, a heart drug, have a side effect that causes milk to come in men.
Still, there are rare examples of men giving milk spontaneously on the stage of history.
You can see men giving milk when they are starving, in the soldiers who were prisoners of war in Japan and Nazi Germany in the Second World War. When a person is malnourished, the functioning of the glands that secrete hormones such as the pituitary gland, which produces prolactin, and the liver, which destroys these hormones, deteriorates.
Then, when nutrition improves, these glands heal more easily than the liver, and hormone levels rise, producing milk in the mammary glands. In fact, there are experts who think that a side effect such as lactation may occur when any tumor occurs in the pituitary gland.
Resources:
Minority, Scientific American
