Motherhood is an experience that uniquely belongs to women. That experience begins as soon as the woman discovers she is pregnant. For nine months, her body and mind change to accommodate for the tiny human she is about to love more than anything she has ever loved. When her baby arrives, she must learn how to nourish her baby via nursing, and although that is a natural process for women, it does not come with a user manual.

The movies always make it seem as if nursing a baby is a simple process that immediately registers in a mother’s and baby’s brain. However, nursing a baby can come with literal aches and pains for the mother and baby. What we do not see are the difficulties a mother experiences when she nurses her baby, and that may be why some mentally ill men have fetishized breastfeeding along with other sinister reasons.

Recently, we have seen mentally ill men who pretend to be women come under fire for “breastfeeding” their child or attempting to lactate via medicated methods. A British man has been rightfully criticized for breastfeeding his child after a breast pump in his home was questioned. The man later took to social media to explain that he indeed had breastfed his child, but only for a short time due to medical reasons.

Libs of TikTok has made a video go viral captioned: “Male starts a gofundme to buy pumps so he can lactate and offer babies ‘transgender milk.’ He says he’s always wanted to lactate.” This man explains that he needs money to buy a breast pump so he can offer families “transgender milk.” He further explains that he is a “pioneer at this” and will be documenting his lactation journey.

Male starts a gofundme to buy pumps so he can lactate and offer babies “transgender milk.” He says he’s always wanted to lactate. pic.twitter.com/9Upb8E0mYo

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 7, 2023

For the most part, people agree that protecting children is a good thing and something we should strive to do every time we see a child in danger. It seems that we may no longer live in such a time. The natural response to mentally ill men breastfeeding children should be that of disgust and anger. Public figures and institutions should be condemning such an abusive act, but that is not happening. In fact, once-trusted organizations and institutions are coming out in defense of such a heinous act.

La Leche League, an organization that provides breastfeeding support globally, offers resources on its website for transgender and nonbinary parents. The CDC gives guidance to transgender “chestfeeding” parents without knowing the side effects a baby may experience from drinking Frankenstein-like milk.

A society that places the delusions of mentally ill men pretending to be women before the safety of infants is dangerous. If we demonstrate cowardice instead of bravery when we witness child abuse, we are in trouble. Children rely on adults to protect them from the evils of the world. If children cannot rely on the adults to protect them, who do they have left?