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Intended Parents -Surrogacy and Breast feeding

Induced lactation for surrogate intended parents breast feeding

Breast milk is said to be the best milk as it has so many benefits. Breastfeeding is good for the baby, good for the mother, and is also suitable for bonding and family attachment. There is a whole list of documented advantages of breastfeeding. But what if you have never been pregnant and you want to have a baby through surrogacy and take advantage of all the benefits that Breast milk offers?

It has been discovered that it is possible for women in this kind of situation to breastfeed, by putting some effort and following a set of protocols.


Simplified chemistry of breastfeeding

The human body goes through some hormonal changes that lead to lactation. These changes have now been discovered. The rules of induced lactation attempt to copy these changes, and trick the body into believing that it is pregnant and soon giving birth. "When you are pregnant, estrogen and progesterone are at high levels," says Debbie Stone, who is RN and lactation expert at the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital. "At this time, the breasts are in the process of being prepared for lactation."

In a normal pregnancy, when a woman is in labour, estrogen and progesterone level drop immediately paving way for prolactin, a different kind of hormone that triggers the start of lactation. In an effort to mimic this process, a woman who is not expectant is given domperidone to trigger prolactin production. Domperidone is medication previously used in the treatment of gastrointestinal problems.

The ability of domperidone to cause lactation in both women and men was initially seen as a strange side effect. It was however not long before doctors started to figure out how the drug could help mothers without enough milk production. Even though domperidone is in use in many western countries, it has not been approved for use in the US. Medical scientists are however aware of other drugs used to stimulate prolactin release.


Apart from hormone therapy, the other part of induced lactation is Direct Breast Stimulation. An electric double breast pump is used in an effort to establish a consistent flow of milk a few weeks before the baby’s expected arrival date. This is a big commitment on the part of the expected surrogate mother as it requires continuous milk pumping every three hours daily for a couple of weeks. Other ways of direct breast stimulation are compression and massage.

Induced lactation limits
While a woman’s ability to lactate lies mostly on their consistency in performing the set protocols, in most cases, it is still a fact that surrogate intended parents breast feedingwill not be enough for exclusive breastfeeding. A type of milk supplement will still be necessary.

Exclusive breastfeeding for an induced woman can still be possible but will normally be after several weeks before getting to that point.

Even though 100% exclusive breastfeeding may not be achieved, it still has many benefits such as forming a mother and child bond.


This post first appeared on Fertility Treatments For Gay Parents At Surrogate360, please read the originial post: here

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