Trans women can breastfeed safely

Breastfeeding trans feminine people ought not to be a controversial subject. There is clear medical evidence, as laid out in the case studies below, showing it is safe and reasonable for trans women to breastfeed and lactate their children. Any arguments which suggest that trans women’s lactation is pus filled, water, sweat, or other non-nutritional content are scientifically inaccurate, and rooted in lies being perpetuated about trans bodies.

It is wrong to deny trans feminine mothers the opportunity to breastfeed their new born children should they wish. The medical evidence is clear that this is a safe medical practice using the same regimes that are available to cisgender women who are unable to lactate or express. Those who oppose trans feminine people breastfeeding ignore the actual medical science, choosing to place philosophical beliefs over current medical practices.

As the 2026 Australian case of Buckley v Sussex demonstrates, trans women are vilified and called child abusers simply for wishing to provide maternal support to their newborn child. Attenborough (2024) claims that this is an ideological position[1], with Mika Minio-Paluello attacked in the right wing media in 2023 for breastfeeding her child on television (O’Neill, 2023)[2] (Bartosch, 2023)[3] (Clark, 2023).[4] Holders of gender critical beliefs seek to deny the actual science because they refuse to accept that trans women can safely breastfeed despite the available evidence.

The biological science is on the side of trans women. Trahir et at (2025) lay it out clearly:

Transfeminine individuals are capable of developing breast tissue that is indistinguishable from cis-females, allowing them to breastfeed effectively.[5] With Daniel Sanderson  (2025)in The Times explicitly calling trans women who breastfeed an ideological experiment which could harm children.[6]

‍ ‍

Tordoff et al (2026) highlighted that breast/chestfeeding provides important health and infant–parent bonding benefits in families with an interest in and capacity for lactation, including seven transgender women who expressed for their child.[7] This is backed up by Liat et al’s (2026) observation that trans women can nourish, comfort, and connect with infants even when lactation follows non-normative pathways, calling for clear clinical pathways which include awareness and training for induced lactation.[8] Brown and Swatz (2026) highlight that peri- and post-natal care philosophy is centred around providing individualised care and upholding autonomy, which recognises the structural and systematic issues impacting care provision for marginalised trans groups.[9]

‍ ‍

Clinically, Wamboldt et al (2021) outlined that they expanded the medical literature regarding breastfeeding in trans women by successfully inducing lactation so she was able to breastfeed her child.[10] They point out that breastfeeding is part of the female gender experience and lactation induction should be a worthwhile goal in those who choose it. Indeed, their protocol was emulating breastfeeding protocols in place for cis women:

‍ ‍

With the guidance of lactation induction protocols in nonpuerperal women, we provided our patient with a lactation induction protocol.

A final point they make is that a goal of lactation induction in transgender women is not just milk production, but rather the nonnutritional benefits that come from breastfeeding. This is an essential point because breast/chest feeding develops the strong maternal bond between parent and child, enabling both cisgender and transgender women to connect with a newborn.

‍Reisman and Goldstein (2018) back this up with another successful case study of a trans woman of a trans woman who was able to successfully feed her newborn child for six weeks without issue.[11] Burns (2018) provides anecdotal evidence from three transgender women who also breastfed their newborns.[12] As part of their systematic review Jackman et al (2025) confirmed that lactation was considered a normative part of potential trans feminine healthcare if needed.[13] Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust included this research in their 2021 policy guide for Perinatal Care for Trans and Non-Binary People.

Drawing this together, it is clear that transgender women benefit from the same medical science as transgender women do. It is not an ideological position to state that trans women are capable of raising a health newborn through their own lactation, as is shown in the case studies above. The gender critical attacks on trans women who breastfeed choose to put their own beliefs above the evidence, and as such it is their demands which are the ideological position.

Simply put, trans women can safely breastfeed based on all current medical and scientific evidence, and to deny that is to deny the empirical evidence.

‍[1] Attenborough, F. (2024). Key figures at world’s oldest breastfeeding charity quit over shift to gender ideology. Free Speech Union. Available at: https://freespeechunion.org/archive/key-figures-at-worlds-oldest-breastfeeding-charity-quit-over-shift-to-gender-ideology

[2] O’Neil, B. (2023). Does the TUC understand what the word ‘mum’ means? The Spectator. Available at: https://archive.ph/vwnXM

[3] Bartosch, J. (2023). The bizarre case of the breastfeeding dad. Spiked. Available at: https://archive.ph/BpoAy#selection-391.0-391.41

[4] Clark, J. (2023). 'Anti-trans' campaigners report trans mum to NSPCC for breastfeeding baby. Daily Record. Available at: https://archive.ph/eqcLi#selection-833.0-833.73

[5] Trahir et al. (2025). Pilot Survey Assessing Lactation and Breastfeeding Experiences, Attitudes, and Knowledge Among Transfeminine Individuals Breastfeeding Medicine 20(5) 359-364. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39689731/

[6] Sanderson, D. (2025). Trans charity launches defence of men ‘who can breastfeed’. The Times. Available at: https://archive.ph/PnJJ9#selection-1487.0-1487.58

[7] Tordoff et al. (2026). Breastfeeding and Chestfeeding Experiences of Cisgender Sexual Minority Women, Transgender, and Gender Diverse Parents Journal of Human Lactation Available at: 10.1177/08903344251391163

[8] Liat et al. (2026). From one-size-fits-all to client-defined feeding success: toward competency-based affirming lactation care for transgender and gender-diverse families International Journal of Transgender Health 22(12) Available at: 10.1080/26895269.2026.2689105

[9] Brown, K and Swartz, A. (2026). Integrating recommendations for transgender and gender non-conforming perinatal care in the NHS: A qualitative exploration of healthcare professionals views PLOS Global Public Health Available at: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0005684

[10] Wambolt et al. (2021). Lactation Induction in a Transgender Woman Wanting to Breastfeed: Case Report The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 106(5) e2047-e2052 Available at: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgaa976

[11] Reisman, T and Goldstein, Z. (2018). Case Report: Induced Lactation in a Transgender Woman Transgend Health 3(1) Available at: https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2017.0044

[12] Burns, K. (2018). Yes, Trans Women Can Breastfeed — Here's How. Them.Us. Available at https://www.them.us/story/trans-women-breastfeed

[13] Jackman et al. (2025). Patient-reported outcomes, provider-reported outcomes, and physiologic parameters after gender-affirming hormone treatment in Canada: a systematic review Hormones 24 395-417 Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42000-024-00626-y

‍ ‍