Breastfeeding org worker sued for calling trans mother’s breastfeeding a “dangerous fetish”

A breastfeeding expert from Australia is facing legal action after she posted on social media saying that trans women cannot breastfeed, calling attempts to breastfeed a “dangerous fetish.”

Jasmine Sussex is being taken to Queensland’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal by a trans mother, Jennifer Buckley, after saying that the mother had a fetish and that trans women breastfeeding was “experimental.”

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Buckley and her wife got pregnant in 2019 using IVF after Buckley began her transition. While her wife was 28 weeks pregnant, Buckley’s endocrinologist asked her whether she also wanted to breastfeed.

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Buckley began taking hormones to stimulate milk production as her wife prepared to give birth so she could breastfeed her child as well. She documented the journey on Facebook: “For the past six weeks I have been taking a drug called domperidone to increase prolactin in an attempt to be able to produce breast milk so that I can have the experience of breastfeeding.”

When she posted photos of herself online, she received waves of comments condemning her, including from Sussex.

“This is Buckley’s delusional queer theory take on his experience ‘breastfeeding,'” she wrote.

Sussex previously worked at the Australian Breastfeeding Association. She was fired in 2021 from her role as volunteer breastfeeding counselor because she refused to use gender-neutral language.

In November of last year, the Queensland Human Rights Commission notified Sussex that they were investigating a complaint from Ms Buckley alleging vilification.

Ms. Buckley, who referred to herself as a “loving mother of a beautiful little boy,” told the Saturday Herald Sun that her wife had encouraged her to attempt breastfeeding after receiving guidance from her endocrinologist.

She explained that she was informed it was “no different from inducing lactation in non-pregnant mothers or mothers who are not producing sufficient milk.”

“For the past three years, Jasmine has repeatedly made public statements about me and my family that are harmful, hurtful, and untrue,” she added.

According to the International Breastfeeding Journal, “Lactation induction protocols commonly used for cisgender women are also effective in transgender women,” and though the amount of milk produced is insufficient as the sole source of milk, “nevertheless, the success of induced lactation may be attributed to parent-infant bonding.”

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