Is La Leche League International promoting pedophilia?

If supporting men to let babies suckle on them isn’t child abuse, what is?

Marian Tompson, a portrait of a brave warrior for women around the globe.

Dominating the breastfeeding world’s global news at the moment is the resignation of the 94-year-old Founder of La Leche League International (LLLI) the global force that rescued breastfeeding from the trash.

Back in 1956 in the USA breastfeeding was not even mentioned as a possibility for pregnant women to consider as an infant feeding choice. The number of mothers who were still breastfeeding upon leaving the hospital (about a week or less after birth) slid from 38% to 21% between 1946 and 1956 and fell a further 3% before 1966.

America in the 1950s: not a woman’s paradise

Six of the mighty seven Founding Mothers of LLL in 1957.

Post World War II was a dynamic era in American life. Fresh off the victory against the Nazis and the Japanese, with the economically devastating depression firmly in the rear-view mirror, the road ahead could not have looked brighter (for men). Because at the end of the war, once the ‘boys’ returned home, the ‘girls’ were instructed to leave the factory floors, offices and all other employment, put on their aprons and get the house and children tidied up for when dad came home.

Google “instructions for 1950s housewives” and prepare to alternate between laughter and alarm. Woe betide any woman who enjoyed using her brain for anything but house cleaning, cooking and childcare. This book outlines middle class women’s prospects in the 1950s and it’s a grim read for this modern woman.

Marian Tompson and her friends were conventional women of their era. They had husbands, children and homes to care for and rebellion was not their purpose when they first started holding meetings in response to friends (and friends of friends) who were desperate to breastfeed. Women sure weren’t getting any help from obstetricians, pediatricians or any sort of primary care physicians, who didn’t actually know anything about breastfeeding anyway (aside from the doctor husband of one of the seven Founders). In any case, doctors didn’t care to learn because “modern” formulas were “so good” and meant that women weren’t tied to their babies anyway. (Why this was considered beneficial, goodness only knows, especially as fathers were not expected to do any sort of childcare and women were no longer expected to be employed outside of the home.)

Marian Tompson has what gender ideology lacks: integrity and ethical standards

Marian freely shared her resignation letter with the entire world:

From Marian Tompson

November 9, 2024

Dear Leaders of La Leche League,

I want to share some important news.

On November 6, 2024, I resigned from the LLLI Board of Directors and from LLL itself, an organization that has become a travesty of my original intent.

From an organization with the specific Mission of supporting biological women who want to give their babies the best start in life by breastfeeding them, LLL’s focus has subtly shifted to include men who, for whatever reason, want to have the experience of breastfeeding despite no careful long-term research on male lactation and how that may affect the baby.

This shift from following the norms of Nature, which is the core of mothering through breastfeeding, to indulging the fantasies of adults, is destroying our organization.

Despite my efforts these past two years as a Board member, it has become clear that there is nothing I can do to change this trajectory by staying involved.

Still, I leave the door open to come back when La Leche League returns to its original Mission and Purpose.

I thank each of you for your years of making this world a healthier and happier place by being there for all mothers needing help with breastfeeding their babies.

With much love,

Marian Tompson

Founder of La Leche League

According to LLL, trans “women” are women

Marian had rejoined the LLLI Board about two years before resigning for the sole purpose of stemming the tide of gender ideology that has infested LLL. The irony that a group founded for the purpose of supporting women engaging in a sexed activity that only women are evolutionarily equipped to perform, is now imploding over pretending that sex is irrelevant hasn’t been lost on some.

Marian repeatedly asked if the LLLI Board supports men breastfeeding, but was not once given a straight or honest answer. If she had instead asked if they support male lactation, she might have had a shot at getting at the truth, but no. It seems that since trans “women” are not men in the opinion of some, that covers the “everyone” that the LLLI Inclusivity Policy applies to. Funny how trans “men” are not men in LLL circles (because well, they aren’t men) but because most of them have had their healthy breasts removed, they aren’t in need of breastfeeding support anyway. To breastfeed, one needs to have at least one functional breast, not two mastectomy scars on a nipple free chest.

It appears that LLL is all for medically experimenting on babies

No sane person could claim that male mammals can feed their young from their bodies. Please spare me the lecture about the Dayak fruit bat and how their males spontaneously lactate. Scientists don’t know why this happens because they DON’T FEED THEIR BABIES with their secretions; it may be that this is just one of Mother Nature’s little jokes. Plus, humans are not bats (well not all of us anyway!).

Infant formula was the first great medical experiment foisted on non-consenting babies and although formula can be lifesaving, in actuality, millions of babies have died from ingesting formula instead of their own mother’s milk. I have already written about the experimental side of male lactation here:

Since When is Medical Experimentation on Babies an Acceptable Idea?

Here I wrote about men breastfeeding as a sexual fetish:

“Girls Can Do Anything” But Sorry, Boys Can’t

If the only way a man can feel like a woman is to breastfeed a baby, then I’m thinking he’s just shit out of luck. Babies are not gender affirmation props for men with autogynephilia or with a lactophilia fetish. They are actual human beings whose rights are being ignored and trampled on if men are allowed by anyone to carry out this needless practice.

Why has LLL abandoned advocating for the mother/baby dyad?

There are entire libraries full of good quality research studies around the harms of splitting up the mother/baby dyad. It’s not just humans, all mammal babies need at the very least, the colostrum from their mothers if they are going to thrive. Every farmer on the planet knows that the calf or the lamb who misses out on this will never be a ‘good doer’. In fact, humans are the only mammals who routinely miss out on their mother’s colostrum and still survive.

Even a brief separation from a mother can cause stress to a baby’s brain and prolonged separation can mean lifelong trauma that is never resolved.

I have written many times about the importance of the foundational relationship that is the mother/baby dyad including here:

What Do Babies Expect?

And here:

Donald Woods Winnicott

Um technically yes, but highly unlikely. And “difficult beginnings” is a master understatement.

By downplaying the impact of surrogacy on babies and their “gestational carriers” (AKA women or mothers), LLL is supporting deliberately creating trauma in the lives of babies in pursuit of supporting the whims, fancies and desires of adults. Here are two places you can read about this:

What is a "Mother"?

Telling it Like it is Without the Gaslighting

I would also like to point out that men have used surrogacy to support their own practice of pedophilia; when you can buy a baby, no questions asked, anything goes. If a man wants to get help with “breastfeeding” his new acquisition, according to the LLL inclusivity policy, all he needs to do is ask and Leaders are obliged to assist him.

Babies are born with a set of expectations that pregnancy has prepared them for. These include being snuggled into their mother’s chest, where they can hear the familiar sounds of her heartbeat and breathing and where they can access her breasts for the food, without which in some circumstances, they won’t survive.

I once had a midwifery colleague who stated that “babies will suck on anything, including a smelly sock” and this is largely true. One of the most important reflexes that babies have at birth, is the sucking reflex. Without this feeding them can be very difficult and to not have this reflex may indicate some congenital condition or problem with a baby’s overall health.

It is no challenge for a man to get a baby to suck on his nipples, even if nothing comes out. The challenge will be for others to explain why some man was allowed to use a baby for sexual gratification and “gender affirmation” and for the birth mother to explain why she didn’t keep her baby safe from a predator.

Back in 1956, Marian Tompson and her friends would have been horrified at any thoughts around men breastfeeding as would the entire society they lived in. The mother-to-mother support group that LLL has been for most of the last 68 years seems to have lost its way entirely by prioritizing the fantasies of adults through abandoning the care of the most vulnerable population in the world: our babies. “Times may have changed” is the argument that some are using to excuse their support of adult dominance, denial of sexed reality and the adoption of a destructive and chaotic philosophy; the “problem” is that babies haven’t changed at all, they just want to be fed by their mothers, not used as props by uncaring adults.

Note: Fundraising is vital for LLL’s future. Make sure your charitable funding is going to a cause you can live with, see here:

Think Twice Before Donating to LLLI This Year