Drug-induced milk from transgender women who were born male is just as good for babies as a mother's breast milk, according to an NHS trust.
A leaked letter from the medical director of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust describes both as “breast milk” and says they are the “ideal food for infants”.
The letter was sent on behalf of the trust's chief executive in response to a campaign group's complaint about the trust's gender policy.
She defends the controversial practice of “induced lactation” using effective medication to enable trans women to simulate breastfeeding. It is also claimed that the term “breast milk” is “meant to be neutral and not gender-specific”.
But in her response to the letter, Labor MP Rosie Duffield said: “Babies cannot be used as guinea pigs for others' lifestyle choices.”
A leaked letter from the medical director of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust describes both as “breast milk” and says they are the “ideal food for infants”. Image from a photo agency
The letter was sent on behalf of the trust's chief executive in response to a campaign group's complaint about the trust's gender policy. Pictured: The Royal Sussex County Hospital
Labor MP Rosie Duffield (pictured) said: “Babies cannot be used as guinea pigs for others' lifestyle choices” in response to the letter
“If a man doesn’t have a baby and can’t give birth, why on earth do we indulge in this?” Who benefits? Not the children. We wouldn't do any other medical experiments on babies. “Breast milk produced by a baby’s birth mother is tailor-made for that baby.”
Ms Duffield also warned about the “ethics of untested chemicals in children”.
She added that the NHS Trust's use of “breast milk” for milk from both mothers and trans women risks erasing women.
In the letter, the medical director claims, “There is clear and overwhelming evidence that breast milk is the ideal food for infants,” referring to both breast milk and the “induced lactation” of biological males.
How a biological male could breastfeed a child
BY PENNY WARD
In the womb and early childhood, both boys and girls develop breast tissue, but during puberty only women are exposed to the surge in estrogen and progesterone that allows the breasts to later produce milk.
Breastfeeding occurs naturally after birth when a hormone called prolactin kicks in and stimulates the milk-producing “alveolar cells.”
Baby suckling at the breast also stimulates the release of prolactin and another hormone, oxytocin, causing the breast tissue to release milk.
Women who have not yet given birth but wish to breastfeed have been able to do so by taking hormones and stimulating their breast tissue with a breast pump.
The same drug combination can be administered to a biological male who must first build breast tissue suitable for lactation. This requires taking testosterone suppressants as well as estrogen and progesterone hormone treatment. Once there is enough breast tissue, the brain must be stimulated to produce prolactin, which can be done by giving domperidone or metoclopramide. These medications are usually used in low doses for short periods of time to treat nausea and vomiting.
Higher doses can stimulate the production of prolactin in the brain. With use for a month or longer, the new breasts can begin producing milk just like those of a biological woman. There are very few studies in this area.
Domperidone can cause cardiac arrhythmias. Taking higher doses of this drug to stimulate prolactin secretion requires caution in people with a genetic predisposition to heart disease. A man who is given estrogen also has a higher risk of breast cancer.
The director continues: “The available evidence shows that the milk is comparable to the milk produced after the birth of a baby.”
The document was published as part of a report by the Policy Exchange think tank.
Lottie Moore, head of equality and identity at the organisation, said: “This letter is unbalanced and naive in its claim that the secretions produced by a man through hormones can nourish a child in the same way that a mother's breast milk can .”
Ms Moore added: “The welfare of a child must always take precedence over identity politics and controversial belief systems that are not based on evidence. “The NHS should not give in to this nonsense. It jeopardizes women’s rights and the protection of children.”
In explaining its guidelines, the trust cited a five-month scientific study from 2022 that measured “testosterone concentrations in infant milk” and found “no observable infant adverse reactions” in babies of breastfeeding transgender women. But experts dismissed the claims, citing the general lack of scientific studies on such side effects. “There have been very few publications and the vast majority have not examined what is in the milk itself,” said a medical expert.
Some of the activists are, in fact, concerned about the safety of the drugs given to men to produce milk – drugs that can cause heart problems. They also point out that the result is producing very little milk. There is “barely enough for a single feeding” per day, the same expert told The Mail on Sunday.
The University Hospitals Sussex Trust is a member of Stonewall's controversial Diversity Champions programme. She acknowledged that her policy was derived based on advice from “external organizations” – but refused to clarify which.
Still, the trust rejected accusations from campaigners that its policies were “clearly focused on the needs of trans people rather than the welfare of children”.
It added: “The trust takes the welfare and protection of children extremely seriously.”
Meanwhile, the trust has refused to reveal how many trans men were born in its hospitals, only acknowledging it was a “very small number”.
Milli Hill, author of The Positive Birth Book and Give Birth Like a Feminist, said: “Breastfeeding is not about the experience of the person breastfeeding – it is about feeding and caring for a baby.”
“No newborn should be used as a prop to reinforce an adult's identity as 'female' when they are clearly not a woman.” If they were actually female, they wouldn't need to take medication to try to express a small amount of milk to produce her nipples. No human male has ever been able to produce enough milk to exclusively feed a baby, and there are no studies on the long-term safety of offering such a substance to a baby.
“There is no reason for an adult to do this to a baby and I would even go so far as to call it abusive. “For an NHS trust to support such abuse is an absolute disgrace.”
A spokesman for University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust said: “We stand by the facts of the letter and the evidence cited which supports them.”