Can Men Produce Milk?

Q. Can men produce milk?

A. If men have the ability to get breast cancer, why wouldn't they be able to breastfeed?

Generally, everyone thinks men have nipples for no reason -- They're wrong. According to lactation consultant, Jan Barger, men can put those nipples to work. When a baby is conceived, the embryo follows a female template, so males inherit female traits such as milk ducts, some mammary tissue, oxytocin and prolactin, which are the hormones responsible for milk production.

In some cases, men have been reported to undergo intense breast and nipple stimulation producing drops of milk (That's disturbing). However, not all men have the ability to lactate. Men who suffer from diseases or other conditions that require hormonal treatment are much more likely to stimulate their mammary glands successfully producing milk. Though this may not be as good as mommy's milk, it's still appetizing, for hungry babies at least.Men don't need to develop breasts to breastfeed, but they can lactate under extreme circumstances. Jack Newman, a breastfeeding expert, says putting a baby to its father's breast won't necessarily promise a lactating father.

"It would be the same reason- increased prolactin levels&mdashin the one case drug-induced, in the other due to a tumor or some sort of neurological problem," said Newman.

Extreme stress, demanding physical activity and starvation, which inhibits the functioning of hormone-producing glands, also can increase lactation. Survivors of Nazi concentration camps and Japanese POW camps in World War II have experienced the untimely lactation.

This may seem very abnormal, but this just might be a societal norm soon. Mothers who plan to work after their children are born will most likely face the stressful demands of balancing work and family, so those lactating dads will come in handy. Men get ready to trade places.


http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-males-can-lactate&sc=rss
http://web.archive.org.nyud.net/web/20040909091015/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n2_v16/ai_16051177
http://www.babycenter.com/404_can-men-breastfeed_8824.bc