Canadian Trevor MacDonald was born a woman. In his early twenties he began the transition into a man, but kept all his female reproductive organs.
Then he became pregnant — with an interest in breastfeeding.
He sought support from the La Leche League, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and educating women who want to breastfeed. He admits he was nervous at first — him being a man, visibly pregnant, seeking help from an all-woman organization. But La Leche welcomed him in with open arms — for the time being.
After giving birth to a healthy baby boy, Trevor began the difficult task of breastfeeding, but his dilemma was made a little more challenging, as he had little breast tissue for the baby to latch onto. But Trevor persisted, as did his baby boy. Trevor partially credits the support from the La Leche League with his success at breastfeeding.
Because of the help he received through La Leche, MacDonald said he wanted to give back. He wanted to become a leader, but the La Leche League policy states that a man cannot hold a leadership position. According to MacDonald, their policy is poor and outdated.
“At the time the policy was written, the authors assumed that men wouldn’t/couldn’t breastfeed, so they defined a leader as a woman,” MacDonald wrote in a blog post on Thursday. “I kinda doubt that many people envisioned my own scenario. I think that the interpretation of the policy should evolve.”
Read more about Trevor and his journey as a father who breastfeeds on the Huffington Post or visit his Milk Junkies blog.
