Mothers group in turmoil over ‘chestfeeding’ pressure (Aust)

The Australian 9 May 2021
People who “chestfeed” are the target of a new transgender-inclusive guide from the Australian Breastfeeding Association.

The booklet, fruit of a two-year $20,000 project with the LGBTQ+ group Rainbow Families, also ­details how biological males who identify as female can chemically induce “human milk feeding”.

Conflict within the ABA has sharpened as a group of activists among the 1100-plus breastfeeding counsellors has met resistance from women who insist the organisation must not be diverted from its mother-centred mission.

One counsellor critical of the new booklet, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the threat of complaints and disciplinary hearings, said the majority of the organisation’s members “have no idea that this is going on”.

“(They) identify very strongly as mothers, and value and love the single-sex space — the mother-to-mother space that the association has always provided,” she said.

The Queer Theory-influenced publication “undermines breastfeeding and mothers, and science and female biology, and mother-to-mother support, she said.

“It opens the door to biological males to participate in ‘human milk feeding’ with babies, and ­babies deserve better than that.”
READ MORE: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/mothers-group-in-turmoil-over-chestfeeding-pressure/news-story/c3f0ca4c3c82c31b168167347f497bf2