The La Leche Loophole
When doctors are being deliberately misleading on an issue of child safeguarding, it’s time for the authorities to intervene.
Firstly, a huge THANK YOU to the brave (ex) trustees of La Leche for their courage in speaking up for child safeguarding. All the people who have spoken out to protect children have helped tremendously. Ruth Lewis spoke about this to the Telegraph: https://archive.ph/zAfjU
This issue is also being covered in the Mail on Sunday:
This week we had a response from University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust to our Freedom of Information request. They have now (at last) confirmed without obfustication that when the Medical Director (on behalf of the CEO) wrote to us a year ago, the Trust should not have supported biological males (‘transwomen’) ‘chestfeeding’ infants- only women (biological females).
At the time we wrote to UHS its published policy was that it would help ‘transwomen’ feed their babies*. Incredibly, the Hospital Trust claimed in its letter to us that the lactation induced in males was as nutritious for a baby as their mother’s milk. In February of 2024 this was published by Policy Exchange and drew the attention of the world’s media.
We knew that the letter in August 2023 from UHS NHS Trust (which we covered here:https://childrenoftransitioners.org/safeguarding-concerns-in-the-nhs) was not the truth, and it is a relief to finally have confirmation from UHS that this was the case. We have written at length about the physical danger to a baby in being fed male lactate, as well as the obvious sexual element in the practice. This article is about the obfuscation and gaslighting we experienced in trying to challenge an obvious safeguarding risk to children.
In writing this, I am reminded of something Helen Joyce (of Sex Matters) said a while ago, that she thought it would be enough to say, “They are castrating gay children!” and people would listen and agree and do something. We thought it would be enough to say that men like our fathers were using children as sexual props, and feeding them dangerous liquid in the process, and those in authority with safeguarding responsibility would take notice and stop it – however these men ‘identify’.
Helen Joyce spoke about this recently in an interview with Andrew Gold. It’s an extreme sexual practice these men are involved in, using babies. Remember that ‘Nominal Naomi’ claimed to be in the top 5% of OnlyFans content providers. Autogynephiles are a profitable market.
We wrote about ‘Nominal Naomi’ and the fetish/porn aspects of male lactation here: https://childrenoftransitioners.wordpress.com/2023/07/15/six-children/
In the meantime, this issue has become even more contentious, and has led to resignations and expulsions from La Leche League, one of the most respected breastfeeding charities in the world. And NHS England is still linking to La Leche, which maintains that males have a right to ‘feed’ a child.
We have written to NHS England expressing our disgust that ideology is still taking priority over child safeguarding.
Here’s part of that letter:
Although your website has removed the link to the Sussex / Brighton trans policy https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/having-a-baby-if-you-are-lgbt-plus/chestfeeding-if-youre-trans-or-non-binary– it instead links to La Leche who are currently in the press for trying to enforce this child abusehttps://laleche.org.uk/support-transgender-non-binary-parents/
As NHS England you are required to adhere to evidence based care, including for babies of transitioners. Please remove this link recommending child abuse and unevidenced care from your website before more children are harmed, and advise us when it has been done.…
We urgently request NHS England give a clear statement to NHS Trusts requiring evidence based care and child safeguarding as a matter or urgency, including for babies of transpeople, and make this statement public to restore public trust , so the general public and children of transpeople in particular can be reassured Trusts will not subject babies to medical, drug and sexual abuse because men like our dads identify as ‘ transwomen’.
It’s clear that La Leche League’s capture on this issue is vital for the men who want to promote male ‘feeding’. This is why expulsions have been necessary. As long as LLL promotes it, then male ‘feeding’ is legitimised and is associated with the wholesome act of women feeding their babies rather than a profitable porn fetish.
It’s all illusion. A formerly respected organisation is destroyed to enable a profitable porn fetish to flourish. And orgs such as the NHS can pass responsibility onto La Leche League should it face prosecution over this issue. A neat loophole that absolves the NHS, and the government in turn, of responsibility for enabling child abuse.
What will it take? We have written extensively on this issue, spoken about it on podcasts, and at the Genspect conference. We have written FOIs, letters of complaint, raised this issue with various organisations.
- The Government
We wrote to Wes Streeting not long after the election and received a reply this week, presumably in response to press interest. After some waffle about how important breast feeding is, the letter referred us back to NHS England.
- The NHS
We reported our fitness to practice concerns about the UHS Trust doctor to the GMC months ago, but were told the investigation was already with the office of Amanda Pritchard, NHS England CEO. The outcome has never been reported. Soon after the UHS letter was published the Health Secretary gave a speech in Parliament requiring all NHS trusts to practise evidence-based care and child safeguarding, warning transactivist staff who fail to do so would face a full range of consequences. We understand this was intended to protect both the cohort of gender-distressed children highlighted in the Cass report as well as to safeguard the children of trans people.
We have never had a reply from NHS England to the child safeguarding concerns we first
reported in May 2023 (https://childrenoftransitioners.wordpress.com/2024/02/22/safeguarding-concerns-in-the-nhs/). The majority of NHS Trusts we wrote to confirmed that they were
committed to evidence-based care and child safeguarding. However, two trusts refused to answer, others were reluctant to answer, and we received criticism for using sex-based language and talking about the reality and risks of male sexual fetishes. One Trust said it planned to introduce the enabling of ‘male lactation’ as other trusts already do this. Our FOI work suggests that there is a lack of clear policies and standards of care, weak governance leading to a failure of safeguarding and a lack of effective leadership by NHS England. Individual trusts should not be left vulnerable to motivated activists of any ideology.
Our FOIs also show that some NHS staff are confused about whether a ‘transwoman’ is a man who says he is a woman, or a woman who says that she is a man. This is also reflected in surveys of the public which suggests that a third of people in Britain aren’t aware that the word ‘transwoman’ refers to males, as well as the current case in the Supreme Court over the definition of the word ‘woman’.
- The BBC
We have complained several times to the BBC about its coverage of this issue. The BBC apologised on its website for inaccuracies, but that was after their false report had reached the US and India. We expect a commitment to child safeguarding as well as journalistic integrity and honesty. You notice the correction was only online and there are no high-profile reports from the BBC about safeguarding children from abuse such as lactation by men like our fathers, who say they are women. The BBC correction is difficult to find, but is covered in Milli Hill’s Substack article here:https://substack.com/@millihill/p-145886836.
- The NSPCC
Following an ITV news report in 2023 we contacted the NSPCC. While it responded to members of the public, it ignored us. It stated that the issue of male lactation is ‘up to the parents’. The NSPCC has close links with Stonewall. We understand that staff have no training on safeguarding children of men who say they are trans, and limited training regarding the particular risks from men with sexual paraphilias, however they ‘identify’. We are deeply concerned that the NSPCC is overlooking the danger from paraphiliacs to children because it has been captured by trans organisations.
- The LaLeche League and the Charity Commission
To date, neither have replied to our correspondence.
Conclusion
When this issue first hit the media, the police surely had a duty to investigate why men with paraphilias, including lactophilia, were being enabled to use children in their sexual activities. But they were silent. Is this due to training from organisations such as Stonewall? It was once well known that fetish cross dressing was linked to other paraphilias, and even if a force is committed to trans ‘inclusion’ surely the safety of babies takes absolute prominence of any other consideration. How many more cases are there? How many men are taking drugs acquired online? We need strong guidance from the Government, strong leadership in the NHS and strong enforcement from the police to stop this abuse of children.
* https://www.bsuh.nhs.uk/maternity/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/011/MP005-Perinatal-Care-for-Trans-and-Non-Binary-People.pdf
5.5.7 Non-gestational parents may wish to participate in feeding their infants using their own bodies. Cis women who have previously breastfed may have the most success in relactating. Trans women and cis women who have not been pregnant may also be able to induce lactation to some extent.
19.20.21.33 Methods for inducing lactation include galactagoues and physical stimulation. Alternatively, some families choose to use supplemental nursing systems with expressed milk or formula
[emphasis ours]
