Today, we would like to share our experiences as a family who turned to surrogacy and evaluated pursuing induced lactation to feed our newborn son.
When we learned that our first child was on the way, I sought professional advice regarding this breastfeeding technique, I was excited about exploring this option.
My gynecologist and our pediatrician, who were aware of my journey to motherhood, (involving countless surgeries and medical treatments until we reached surrogacy) recommended that I go for bottle-feeding. Both of them agreed that preparation for induced lactation could be too physically and mentally exhausting and advised against it.
Not satisfied with their recommendations, I turned to a breastfeeding association and the lactation consultant who advised me admitted to not knowing of any successful cases of induced lactation in families through adoption or surrogacy and also insisted that I could forge a magical bond with my baby in many other ways.
The combination of all these pieces of advice made me give up on induced lactation, with some frustration at not being able to provide my baby with such important nutrition, but with the peace of mind that I had made my decision based on the recommendations of professionals from all areas.
While awaiting the arrival of our daughter this year, I spoke with another Argentine mother through surrogacy in Ukraine who had successfully achieved induced lactation with her first child and confirmed that her preparation had been challenging. She had achieved partial lactation during her baby's early months. She was happy to have accomplished it but had decided not to pursue induced lactation with her second child on the way, as it would be complicated in the context of traveling to Ukraine and caring for her older daughter. Her testimony contributed to my decision to rely on supplemental feeding for our daughter once again.
Of course, this is our experience based on our own journey and exchanges with the professionals who were involved in our path.
We know that breastfeeding is irreplaceable, and that's why we want to promote it.
Therefore, we invite you to watch a very enriching conversation we had with the Argentine mother who went through surrogacy in Ukraine (in Spanish, using YouTube subtitles) and successfully achieved induced lactation, along with her lactation consultant who supported her in this wonderful experience.
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