Breastfeeding your Child born via Surrogacy

Firstly, did you know that it is possible to breastfeed your baby born via gestational surrogate? The term for this is called-induced lactation. Which basically means you train your body to make breastmilk even though you did not give birth. There are different ways and reasons why you may choose to attempt inducing lactation as intended parents depending on your needs and goals. Here we have come up with some information on inducing lactation for intended parents.

We highly recommend the book Breastfeeding Without Birthing by Alyssa Schnell. We also recommend talking to your doctor and/or a lactation consultant before attempting to induce lactation.

Why Breastfeed?

This isn’t solely a conversation about whether or not to provide breastmilk. Rather it is a discussion as to shine a light on the different reasons why you may want to attempt to breastfeed. It isn’t simply about intended parents inducing lactation for nourishment.

Some reasons may include:

Bonding

Breastfeeding can help intended parents and their child form a secure attachment. Having a baby at the breast may help with deeper bonding and allow for skin to skin contact.

Nutrition

By inducing lactation your child can have the benefits of breastmilk whether it be exclusive breastfeeding or supplemental feeding.

Healing

Some intended parents say that breastfeeding can help with some of the emotional healing regarding infertility as it allows an opportunity for a nurturing physical bond between you and your child.

Comfort

Children can be put to the breast to help them to feel comforted or soothed. Babies can use the breast as a form of pacifier.

Breastfeeding isn’t just about providing breastmilk it can be about any combination of: Nutrition, Supplemental Feeding, Healing, Bonding, & Comfort

– Supporting Surrogacy

Different Considerations

There are a number of ways that breastfeeding or induced lactation can work for you. We will discuss them below. Ultimately, only you can decide which option works best for you and your situation. We wish to support you in making the most empowered decision for yourself. We HIGHLY recommend talking to your doctor and/or a lactation consultant in your area regarding induced lactation. Consult a professional to determine which option is right for you.

For Bonding Or Comfort

For starters, you may want to use your breast as a comfort for your baby. This is where you use your breast as a form of pacifier. This can help nurture the bond between you and your child. This does not require you to induce lactation. This is allowing your child to suckle at your breast for comfort. Bonding occurs anytime you place a baby to your breast, regardless of if you supply nutrition or not.

For Bonding & Using a Supplemental feeding system

This typically uses a supplemental feeder system while baby is at the breast. This allows you to feed while at the breast, but that you do not need to have all the food come from the breast. You may want your child to have some comfort and nutritional benefit of breastmilk but you do not choose rely fully on breastfeeding. You may choose to feed with formula, donated breast milk, or your own pumped milk.

Exclusive Breastfeeding

This option is where you decide to exclusively feed directly from the breast. You get all the added benefits of comfort, bonding, healing and nutrition.

How to Induce Lactation

We HIGHLY recommend talking to your doctor and/or a lactation consultant in your area regarding induced lactation. It is recommended that you consult a professional to determine which option is best for you.

Generic protocols are available (such as Dr Jack Newman’s protocol) or a lactation consultant can work with parents to develop a personalized protocol to meet their specific health history, circumstances, and values. The process can be generally broken down into three steps:

Step 1: Preparing the Breasts for Lactation

Firstly, This step mimics the hormonal and breast changes that occur during pregnancy. This step is not about making milk; it is about growing and developing the glandular breast tissue in preparation for making milk. Many intended parents will take hormone therapy for a period of time to help with this. However, this step is optional.

These foods are generally good for milk production

Some foods and herbs have been reported to help support milk supply. These are often referred to as galactagogues. Which is a Greek word that means milk. Please consult your physician before using any herbal supplements for increasing milk supply. Please note that you cannot increase/ create a milk supply using herbs/foods alone. You MUST complete step 2. In order to actually induce lactation.

A few commonly used foods and herbs are:

1. Barley
2. Barley Malt
3. Oatmeal
4. Pumpkin
5. Herbal galactagogues such as: Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, Alfalfa and Goat’s Rue
6. Other healthy foods: Such as lean Proteins

Here’s a link to milk increasing recipes that you may want to try. And also some yummy cookies, that we don’t know if they work- but they are sure tasty!

These foods may decrease milk production

1. Alcohol
2. Anti-galactagogue herbs
3. Antihistamines
4. Birth control
5. Over-the-counter medications with pseudoephedrine

Prescription medication

There are several types of prescription medication that may help induce lactation. It is important to consult a physician to determine if this is right for you. It is not required to take prescription medication to induce lactation. However, individuals have had varying success with this route. Medication will not produce milk without milk expression as discussed next.

Step 2: Expression, Ideally, before baby arrives

This is the most important step in inducing lactation is- milk expression. This means to remove milk from the breast. Parents will often start the process of growing their milk production several weeks or months before baby arrives. Producing milk takes time. However, it is never too late to start. The main important part of Step 2 is frequent expression. Expression can be done by: using a breast pump, manual/hand expression or having the baby suckle at the breast. Ideally, you will remove breast milk as often as a baby nurses. This is usually every 3-4 hours.

A Note on Breast Pumps

Not every breast pump is made for exclusive pumping. Most breast pumps are made pumping every once in a while. For exclusive pumping we recommend a hospital grade pump. Here’s a trusted guide for the Best breast pumps for exclusive pumping. Parents can store any pumped milk in the freezer before baby comes.

Step 3: Feeding Baby and Continuing to Grow Milk Production

The third step is maintaining/increasing milk production once baby has arrived. Now parents can start feeding baby their milk. This step generally involves putting baby to breast. Not every parent will use all three steps. For most people, with professional support can expect milk production to being within 6-8 weeks. This is a process and you may have to adjust several times.

Final thoughts …

It is important to remember that is is normal to have different level of success with how much milk that you get. It is normal for the amount to vary a lot from each person. We recommend joining an exclusive pumping online community group and/or an induced lactation online community group. They can give you information and can support you on your journey. Inducing lactation for an intended parent is definitely a difficult but rewarding journey to take. Let us know if you have tried inducing lactation as an intended parent.