Fact: Men Can Breastfeed

Are you really a committed father? Though boys and men have nipples, 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: