A conference aimed at consultants in breastfeeding has been criticised for hosting a man who specialises in helping men lactate for ‘curiosity, fun, or sexual gratification’.
US-based Jacob Engelsman will lecture on ‘lactation support for gender diverse families’ at the Galway conference being held in October by the Association of Lactation Consultants in Ireland (ALCI).
Catherine Monaghan, an Irish women’s rights activist and founding member of Wicklow Women 4 Women, said: ‘Surely ALCI can provide inclusive and compassionate lactation support to women, regardless of how they identify, without surrendering sex-based boundaries or accepting the proposition that male lactation is equivalent to the normal female process of breastfeeding?
‘Women are entitled to boundaries, and babies are entitled to have their welfare prioritised.
‘Is it too much to ask that women and babies remain at the centre of a profession established to support them?’
She said: ‘Engelsman’s interest and expertise is not limited to lactation for the purpose of feeding an infant. One of his previous presentations was “Inducing Lactation for Kinksters”.
He wrote the recently published book, Lactation For The Rest of Us: A Guide for Queer And Trans Parents And Helpers, and specialises in inducing lactation in parents who haven’t given birth, and in inducing lactation in men with medication.
Who on earth are these people?? This is not just completely insane, it is also deeply insulting to women, particulary those who need help to breastfeed successfully. ACLI are abasing themselves, and betraying women, in their wilful servility to this misogynistic cult.