Medical experts in the UK argue that biological men who identify as women can produce breast milk as beneficial for babies as milk from biological mothers.
Image: Omar Lopez / Unsplash

Medical experts in the United Kingdom argue that biological men who identify as women can produce breast milk as beneficial for babies as milk from biological mothers.

The controversy centers around a recent letter authored by Dr. Rachael James, the medical director of the University of Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (USHT), which oversees several hospitals in the UK. In the letter, which is addressed to an organization called Children of Transitioners, Dr. James argued that the term “human milk” should be used when referring to breast milk because it is gender-neutral and not biased.

“The term human milk (which she called the ‘ideal food for infants’) is meant to be neutral and is not gender-biased,” James claims.

James further contends that biological men who identify as women and undergo medication to induce lactation can produce milk “comparable” to that of a biological mother. James states, “The evidence which is available demon­strates that the milk is compar­able to that produced following the birth of a baby.”

The assertions promoted by James are based on a five-month study conducted in 2022, which purportedly found no observable side effects for infants fed milk from transgender individuals undergoing lactation-inducing medication.

However, critics, including many scientists, have raised concerns about the study’s methodology and findings. They argue that the research fails to adequately address the composition of the milk produced by transgender individuals undergoing hormone therapy. Moreover, the broader medical community has questioned the validity of equating milk produced by transgender individuals with that produced by biological mothers.

USHT is known for pushing radical, unsubstantial claims regarding transgender-identifying individuals for the last few years. In 2021, it established the UK’s “first clinical and language guidelines supporting trans and non-binary birthing people” where it recommends that hospital staff use terms like “birthing parent” instead of mother and “chestfeeding“ instead of breastfeeding.