Why Adoptive Parents Should Consider Breastfeeding

by Candace Wohl
Article republished with permission from Adoption.net
Original post written October 23, 2013
Posted to the ABC's of Surrogacy on April 30, 2014

Why Induced Lactation Should be Considered for Adoptive Parents

Frankly, there is nothing better than a piping hot chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven with a tall glass of milk. Drooling yet?  While I am enjoying the warm chocolaty bliss of my cookie and milk I am 100% certain I could care less what cow that milk came from. They have cow boobies (udders) and they produce milk. Same with human breasts, knockers, boobs, the big boppers, tatas whatever you want to call them. Now, don’t get me wrong here, if I run out of milk for my coffee I will probably not go to my neighbor who is breastfeeding and ask her for a couple of squirts in my coffee. Sorry, can’t do it. However, adoptive parents or those pursuing surrogacy should not think that breastfeeding through induced lactation is off the table for them.  Let’s take a quick quiz. Break out your trapper keeper and number 2 pencil, this one will challenge you.

--A mother who breast feeds her baby shortly after birth.
--A wet nurse who breast feeds a royal baby.
--An adopted mother who breastfeeds her newly adopted  baby.

I bet most of the general public would probably have found the first two scenarios not as off putting as the third. Why is that? I will admit, I have always wanted to breastfeed my child and after finding out I will never carry my own I thought this was no longer an option.  Just the idea of induced lactation to breastfeed my one day adopted/surrogate child made me feel mildly uncomfortable.  Really, it wasn’t the act that bothered me it was the societal view on breastfeeding. Especially in the US and Great Britain where the general population consider it taboo. What would others think? Would they think I was crazy or that this was unnatural?  This made it apparent to me that my own uneasiness was rooted in the superficial worry that society would consider my child less of my own because I adopted and that it was not natural since that child was not born from me.  I am a mother; that is my child. I have boobs and that is what they were made for, sorry fellas- big shocker they are not there for looks and just to paw at.

Surrogate or “intended” parents have lead time to work with in order to plan to nurse via inducing lactation however if you are an adoptive parent the time line is sometimes as clear as mud. They are unpredictable and in many cases adoptive parents are not given much time to prepare.  This does not count you out of the breastfeeding club.  Consider other options to help buy some time while you are waiting for your milk to come in. There are many resources available through linking up with your local La Leche League   and utilizing local milk banks and Supplemental Nursing Systems (SNS).

This will be a 3 part series so expect more scholarly info to come on induced lactation but for now let’s talk about the WHY.

Bonding

One of the most important processes when you have a baby through adoption or surrogacy is bonding with your baby. When you are nursing you have regular skin on skin contact which is a proven bonding method.  It also establishes trust and natural mother-baby intimacy that your baby needs in those beginning stages.

It is Like Couponing, but with Boobs

Now, some lucky adoptive or intended  parents may be well off so that this is not an issue, but for those who have to have bake sales, car washes, and cash out 401ks to pay for their adoption or surrogacy would like to hold on to what IOUs and spare change they have remaining from their baby pursuits.  No brainer, so sorry if I insult intelligence here but breastfeeding is $free.99. Well, there’s a pump, some vitamins, and some medications involved, but aside from that it is cheaper than formula. Baby formula can be pretty expensive and it’s estimated that one year of formula can range between $1,500 to $3,000. $free.99 verses 3k, you can put those savings back to help replenish your adoption/surrogacy drained account.

Health-tastic Milk

It is safe to say this baby was loved and prayed for before they were even created. So why not give your baby the best.  Babies who have been breastfeed have been proven to have stronger immune systems as breast milk carries positive antibodies that boosts that immune system. Possible baby Einstein? Another health benefit from breast feeding your baby is that new studies show that breastfeeding increases your baby’s IQ levels. Studies showed that cognitive abilities of preschoolers who were breast-fed scored significantly higher than bottle-fed infants, and IQ score was directly relative to how long the infants had been breastfed: IQs were 2.1 points higher in children who were breastfed for three months; 2.6 points higher when babies were breast-fed for four to six months; 3.8 points higher in children breastfed longer than six months. These specific results were published in the May 2011 issue of the European Journal of Pediatrics. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=surety-bond-breast-feeding