EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT/ MALE INTERACTION:

Nothing to me is more attractive and heart warming than a man who is willing to do the physical work in raising his child(ren). As someone who lacked that fatherly figure in my early childhood I do appreciate men who step up. But in the following article I am about to show how some men have REALLY devoted T/L/C to their children from birth! These men go so far to as to bosom FEED! 

Fact: Men Can Breastfeed
(no author(s) listed.) Taken from :
http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/08/fact-men-can-breastfeed.html

Are you really a committed father? Though boys and men have n.pples, many are unaware that they also have mammary glands. Usually there is so little mammary tissue that it is unnoticeable. However, if a man develops abnormally large mammary glands (a condition called gynecomastia), it can cause secretion of milk as well. The phenomenon of male lactation in humans has become more common in recent years due to the use of medications that stimulate a man's mammary glands.

Under the appropriate hormonal stimulus, that nature provides to human females when they become pregnant and give birth, the mammary glands of human males can also produce milk. The volume of milk produced is low relative to that of a lactating female. Male lactation is most commonly caused by hormonal treatments given to men suffering from prostate cancer. Female hormones are used to slow the production of cancerous prostate tissue, but the same hormones also stimulate the mammary glands. Male-to-female transsexuals may also produce milk due to the hormones they take to reshape their bodies. It can occasionally be a side effect of antipsychotic medication. Marijuana use is also thought by some to be a possible cause; however, published data is contradictory.

Male lactation has, in some cases, commenced without hormonal treatments as well. Extreme stress combined with demanding physical activity and a shortage of food has also been known to cause male lactation. The phenomenon was first studied in survivors of the liberated Nazi concentration camps after World War II. Some American POWs returning from the Korean and Vietnam Wars also experienced male lactation. What's more, this article was published in The Mercury newspaper on October 30, 2002:

Sri Lankan widower breastfeeds his babies
COLOMBO: A 38-year-old Sri Lankan man, whose wife had died three months ago, appears to have the ability to breastfeed his two infant daughters, doctors said on Wednesday. The man, from the central town of Walapone, lost his wife during childbirth.

"My eldest daughter refused to be fed with powdered milk liquid in the feeding bottle. I was so moved one evening and to stop her crying I offered my bosom. I then realised that I was capable of breastfeeding her," the man admitted.

Dr Kamal Jayasinghe, deputy director of a Sri Lankan government hospital, was quoted as saying it was possible for men to produce milk if the prolactine hormone became hyperactive.

It's definitely worth taking look at the following cinematic statement on male breastfeeding, a short documentary film entitled "Milk Men" directed by Peter Templeman, who was nominated for this year's Academy Awards (not exactly NSFW, but it might be weird to watch it at work).

Read more: Fact: Men Can Breastfeed | The Thinking Blog ~ Knowledge Grows When Shared http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/08/fact-men-can-breastfeed.html#ixzz16jqUrNOl

*Pictures:
http://4.bp..com/_Di1HzTLtBlM/RreOA_vv4UI/AAAAAAAABdk/X7l7gt31uiE/s400/lactating+man.jpg
http://1.bp..com/_Di1HzTLtBlM/RreOBPvv4VI/AAAAAAAABds/g3sJdIFl4i8/s400/breastfeeding+man.jpg

What are your reactions to this? As a man could you see yourself doing such thing? Is this taboo? Ladies would you permit your spouse/partner to breastfeed if you chose not to? *any more thoughts feel free to add.

Erm, I think it would feel kinda weird seeing my husband breastfeed our child, it just won't seem normal, I have an uncle that used to allow his kids suck on his lower lip when they were babies (as a pacifier of some sort I guess) and would always cringe anytime I saw him do it, I just felt it was kind of icky!!

But then again, what do I know, I'm not a mother yet, maybe when I have my own kids some things won't seem so weird to me.

This one no follow at all, man breastfeed child, this is unthinkable.

I don't believe the part where it was stated the stress and physical activity could cause males lactate cos that will mean 50% of nigerian men would be able to breastfeed which isn't happening.

men breastfeeding?

can a man ever lactate? the child will just get frustrated sucking the empty nipple.

Nothing that one won't come about on NL.

I didnt know men lactate.

I honestly do not know how I feel about the article as it is 3 years since it was written. i have not gone through with following up on recent/ more cases. I think anything is possible. The male sex has the XY chromosome and is there fore in essence "partly female" so I am not surprised as men do have feminine characteristics. Do I believe this is interesting YES! lol Would I allow my children to be breastfed by their father less than likely, unless all else fails (ex: they do not want my breast milk, they do not want the processed milk).