Breastfeeding an Adopted Infant?

Question

I am hoping to adopt and would like to breastfeed. I've heard this is possible. Has anyone had experience with this?

I have 2 biological children that I breastfed several years ago. And my milk supply was very good. Since I have previously lactated, do you think my chances of producing milk again are good even without having been pregnant?

Answer 1

Yes, those that have successfully breastfed seem to do better with induced lactation. You may want to enlist the aid of a lactation consultant or doula and will need some hormone treatment most likely. Also, the La Leche League probably has a number of resources.

Medela offers a supplement feeder that you tape to your breast so you can feed formula at the breast as well.

here's some articles to help:

http://www.maternitycorner.com/mcmag/art...

http://www.medela.com/NewFiles/faq/adopt...

http://www.surrogacy.com/medres/article/...

Due to problems I had with hormones during fertility treatment I chose not to do try the induced lactation. We had an open adoption though, and DS's first mom nursed him for three days in the hospital, then pumped, froze and Fed Exed us breastmilk for over a month! We were very fortunate she felt comfortable doing this for her son.

Answer 2

You'd have to ask a doctor.

Breast Milk is ALWAYS better than formula. It helps develope the immune system.

It will also help with bonding. You should do it if you can. It might greatly counter the displacement effect. adoption process can have on a child.

There is no genetic problem with breastfeeding somebody else kid. Nursemaids (not that that's the extent of your huge commitment, of course) have been around forever.

ADD: I don't think there's anything gross about it. I think it shows you are very commited to loving this child.

Answer 3

you cant unless u were very recently breastfeeding

thats kinda weird breastfeeding someone elses child even if u are adopting the child

Answer 4

I looked into this for the same reason and I had breastfed a biological child as well. I was excited about being able to breastfeed my adopted child. I looked into it however, and got discouraged by what i learned. I don't know how accurate this info is but, it is what I know.

I was told that you can produce milk and you can breast feed. However, it is never very much milk. It may be an ounce or two a day and you always will have to supplement it primarily with formula. I was willing to give it a shot but, it didn't seem worth it to me for an ounce a day. Perhaps the benefit to my son would have been worth it even for that small amount but I decided against it when I learned how little i would be expected to produce.

I know my son missed out on breastfeeding and I felt sorry about that. However, after about 2 days of feeding him from bottles, I knew there were advantages to that as well. I could go out and leave him with my husband and not have to be there every second. How wonderful! I still held him close and I fed him on demand and I was certainly there to be the one to feed him almost always. His immune system I'm sure would have benefitted from breast milk but, he had an easier time with all those babyhood ailments than my breastfed daughter did anyway.

Certainly breastfeed your baby if you want to and you can. But try not to see it as something your child will be deprived of if you choose not to. Good luck. I think adoption is a wonderful way to form a family.

Answer 5

you can do this and still get lots of milk. yuo have to see your doctor ahead of time so you can get on the stuff to prepare your body to produce. Good luck and talk to your doctor to see if I am right and if this is possible!

Answer 6

I doubt that you could ''just start producing milk''...but science

have done wonders in the past few years...so why not..that??

But if you do want some Breast Milk for the Baby, check

with the Health Departments, or write to the Department of

Human Services in Washington D.C. and inquire about

"Surrogate Mothers, who donate breast milk". Scientist and

Legislature, are bringing New Laws into Effect, and women

who are ''great producers of breast milk" can get their milk

sold to companies...for distribution to situations just like

the one you are contemplating...

I am all for this type of service, BUT NOT WITHOUT A GOOD

BACKGROUND OF MEDICAL EXAMINATION BEING DONE ON THE DONOR...

One woman, in the county where I live owned a daycare..

and a woman brought a newborn baby to the daycare, and

said she would be back to ''nurse the baby" in an allotted

amount of time..She failed to do so, so the woman, owner

of the daycare, BREASTFED THE BABY, And She Was

Jailed For It, and Put On Probation, and went to courts

and the whole Nine Yards, and paid the fines and all...

BUT IT BROUGHT TO THE SURFACE, SOME OF THE

CURRENT PROBLEMS FACED BY PEOPLE OF TODAY,

and our newspaper, the Stigler New Sentinel....was full of

letters to the Editor, about this incident, and these letters

came from all over the USA, so we know this newspaper

is read by many people, esp over the internet.

You can contact the Librarian in your town, and have the

Librarian request the microfilm on that subject when it was

printed, but man it could teach us all something...for sure.

My mother was among those ''old biddies, who could

produce more milk, than a cow", and she nursed half the

babies in the town, where I grew up, because, IN THE GOOD

OLE DAYS, people didn't pay any attention to laws or such

and all they were interested in, was the fact that their baby

was hungry...and to get it fed, as quickly as possible...

so you might say, MY MOTHER'S BODY WAS ''WANTED''

ALL OVER TOWN.

These are some of the Good Ole Times, which I can relate

as Great Memories...and Cherish Them, for sure....

I am including stories like this, and many more, into my

collections of family stories, in my family ancestory / history

notes...for the next generation to know how life really was,

for us....

Thank you for asking this question...Sincerely, Too Funny

and this surely brought many laughs, about my mother.

She was well-liked, and I often wonder how many of those

babies were boys,,,and got spouses...who had big...(B....'s)

Answer 7

it`s called relactation and it is indeed possible. I think you need to try pumping quite a while before you get your baby try try and stimulate the milk supply. There is also a device that you can hang around your neck that dispenses fomula around nipple level so the baby can nurse and get fomula at the same time....I forget the name.

Contact your local la leche or lactation consultant for help and more accurate and knowledgable advice....and search for relactation.

Answer 8

I tried this and failed. I also had a bio child and breast feed and when I adopted my son I also tried to do the same. I read a lot about teas that helped with lactation and I also injected hormones, but I never could lactate more then a few drops because you have to have the baby nurse all the time and when the baby is not nursing then you have to pump. I even purchased a special devise that you put formula in that attaches to the nipple while the baby nurses, because babies don't want to nurse if they are sucking on an empty breast. But it was so hard to handle with trying to hold the baby that the nurse had to help me so I spent 20 minutes having the nurse man handle my breast all the time trying to keep the tube and my nipple in my sons mouth at the same time. It was crazy.... But ask me if I would do it again. Yep because those 10 days that I tried this it helped me bond to this little guy, but I would not be too upset if it does not work. And what I ended up doing is taking off my shirt and fed him with a bottle, so he ended up still having the skin to skin contact which is totally necessary for bonding. Good luck! I commend you for even trying.

Answer 9

Of course you can!  It's perfectly natural to want to breastfeed your baby!

You can do one of two things:

1.  Pump regularly in anticipation of your baby being born/coming home.  See if you will produce colostrum or milk.  When the baby arrives, have the baby take over (and pump, too if needed).

2.  If the pumping and or nursing does not produce milk after the baby comes home, you can purchase a supplemental nursing kit, which is a little tiny soft flex tub that is taped to the side of the breast, and runs to a little pouch filled with formula.  As the baby nurses, it will get the milk and you may eventually begin to make milk, too.

But remember, the most important thing in all of this is not how much milk you produce, or if the milk comes in at all, it is the bonding and closeness you have with your new baby!

Happy feeding!!

Answer 10

I read something once where a woman was able to do breast feeding (the grandmother carried the children) because she took some type of hormone to stimulate the production.  I can't remember the hormone, but I think it starte4d with a P.  Not progesterone, but something like that.

I say go for it, great for the bonding experience, and obviously the health of the baby.

Answer 11

I have heard of women doing this. I believe it can and does happen. Check with your Dr. for some direction.

Answer 12

The drs need to put you on hormone medication so your body thinks it's pregnant. Once you start on it you need to express regularly to build up your milk supply.

Answer 13

I am a birth mom.  But my daughters adoptive mom did breastfeed.  She has never had kids before and had to take some hormonal vitamins before i believe.  I know she worked hard with her doctor and did get to breastfeed.  So it can be done.

Good luck

Answer 14

You just need to get the right hormones from your doctor, in enough time to be producing milk before the baby comes home. There may be a slight chance that the child will refuse your breast, if it's been bottle fed before.

Answer 15

This is possible, although many adoptive mothers still need to suppliment formula as well if they're not producing enough milk. Here are a few links that will hopefully help.

http://breast-feeding.adoption.com/

http://fourfriends.com/abrw/

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBadoptive.html

Good luck with this and your entire adoption journey!