Shared breastfeeding, in which both mothers breastfeed their baby, is rare.
Same-sex couples often choose to feed their baby with a bottle, donated breast milk or formula milk.
Tiffany and Glenis Decuir, a couple from Ohio, United States, they set out to breastfeed both their son Orion, and they succeeded with induced breastfeeding. They tell us how and why they did it
"We wanted to share the experience of motherhood"
Last Christmas they discovered that Tiffany was pregnant. Glenis says that she wanted to compare with her the experience, aware of the strong connection established between mother and child during pregnancy and breastfeeding, since she had already given birth and breastfed her eldest children: Savannah, 13 , and Nicholas, of 10.
"I know how deep this link is, which starts from the moment you find out you're pregnant, so I didn't know how I could connect emotionally with our baby."
This is how Glenis explains how he felt and that it was Tiffany who found information about breastfeeding induction:
"We didn't know anyone who had done it, so we had no idea it existed. However, once we realized that it was possible, we decided to try it."
In Babies and more A transgender mother manages to exclusively breastfeed her baby for six weeksThey investigated the methods to do so and chose the Newman Goldfarb protocol. It consists of combining the synchronization of the correct hormones and withdrawing them at the optimum time to deceive the body and that it believes that the woman is pregnant. The earlier the process starts, the more chances of success.
"I started to induce breastfeeding in February 2018 with hormonal contraceptives. Nine weeks before the baby was born, I started pumping my milk to stimulate my breasts."
Not everyone understands
Glenis acknowledges that it was difficult for him to find a doctor who supported his desire to induce breastfeeding:
"My doctor looked at me like I was crazy and sent me to my gynecologist, who also refused to prescribe contraceptives to achieve my purpose. So I changed specialists and this time I didn't explain why I wanted the pills."
Luckily, adds the happy mom, "We found a lactation consultant who, although she had never tried breastfeeding induction, decided to help us on our way."
She tells that she also took domperidone, a medicine that is normally used to treat stomach conditions and that made her gain more than 13 kilos. But it benefited from its effect, the increase in prolactin levels. Therefore, he continued taking it even after his baby was born in August.
Two nursing mothers from the zero minute
Glenis says that they developed a birth plan that would include both in the process: "We let Orion get hooked to Tiffany first, so she could establish breastfeeding, and then I would breastfeed her."
By the time Orion was born, he already had more than 17 liters of breast milk in the freezer, so his priority was for Tiffany to establish breastfeeding.
"Everyone in the delivery room was very understanding and very intrigued, because he had never experienced a similar situation before. After an hour of skin to skin with Tiffany and her breastfeeding, I breastfed him. And so during the next three weeks: every time Orion ate, his two moms would breastfeed, always Tiffany first, and then I. After three weeks we could alternate in the shots without breastfeeding.
A totally positive experience
Glenis relates that they felt supported by all the nearby people and that achieving her could breastfeed served to make her and his wife feel more connected and united to Orion.
"Tiffany has even recognized that if I had not been able to feed our baby, breastfeeding would have been more stressful for her and she says she loves looking at us when I breastfeed because she thinks I have the same right as her, as a mother, to feed him with breastmilk".
But there is more: thanks to the fact that the two can breastfeed, Tiffany was able to rest and assures that in no way she feels that the induction has hindered or affected her relationship with Orion.
In Babies and more 11 positions to breastfeed and achieve successful breastfeeding, what is yours?"Now we have both returned to work and we both extract breast milk for the little one to drink when we are not."
He acknowledges that after the rejection by doctors and the lack of information about induction, he decided to open an Instagram account where to tell his experience with the intention of helping other mothers who want to try.
In addition, Glenis admits that not everything has been a pink path. In fact, he suffered from IGT (Glandular tissue insufficiency or breast hypoplasia), a condition that causes the woman to not be able to produce enough milk for her child, since there is not enough breast tissue to hold it.
"That's why, looking back now, a year ago, when I didn't even know that induction was possible, I'm surprised how far we have come and what we have achieved as a family."
In any case, this is only a testimony, which can be positive to demonstrate that the induction of breastfeeding is possible, but at all we share that it is done without the necessary medical support. Never take any medication without it being prescribed by a specialist, due to the medical dangers involved.
In fact, the sale of Domperidone is not approved in the US. by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration of the United States), because of the risks it represents to the health of the nursing mother. And here in Spain their indications are also restricted.
Photos | Assigned by Glenis Decuir
