Trans women’s milk as good as breast milk British health officials say

The NHS, or National Health Service, is the comprehensive public-health service under government administration. In addition to overseeing access to healthcare, NHS creates evidenced-based policies and thus navigates research and implementing policies.

In a letter to campaigners, the University of Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (USHT), said that the milk produced by trans women after taking a combination of drugs, is “comparable to that produced following the birth of a baby”.

Trans women, or people who were assigned male at birth, take hormones, including estrogen, which can lead to an increase in breast tissue. With additional hormones and drugs, they may be able to induce lactation.

Women who were assigned female at birth can also lactate with stimulation, and sometimes drugs, when they’ve never been pregnant. This sometimes occurs in the case of becoming a parent via surrogacy, adoption, or same sex relationships where the partner carried the baby.

With the increase in people from all demographics becoming parents, it is important to understand options for feeding babies. We know that breast milk provides unique and optimal nutrition for babies. Determining if milk from a trans woman can provide that nutrition, is important.

In 2021, the trust created what it refers to as Britain’s “first clinical and language guidelines supporting trans and non-binary birthing people.”

Within the guidelines were assertions about the ability of trans-women to produce milk for a baby. Citing different studies, the NHS trust says trans women’s milk as good as breast milk.