New Fathers Can Promote Gender Equity By Contributing To Breast Feeding
Science Has Given Couples A New Weapon To Equalize The Burdens Of Caring For Newborns.
By TRAVIS MOORE
Published August 22, 2014
Scientific advances may soon take gender equity to its next logical phase. Although career paths have opened for women, nature has imposed its own gender discrimination against women by forcing them to endure the inconvenience of pregnancy. Even after this ordeal, women lose more time at the office by incessant breast feedings or wrestling with insufferable breast pumps.
Fortunately, people are taking action to eliminate this nature-induced gender inequity. Hundreds of men across the U.S. are using hormone therapy to share in their partner’s breast feeding duties.
Adam Goldsmith, a 37-year-old tax accountant in Brooklyn, NY, never imagined he would be able to breast feed his own child. Through the use of hormones, he is doing just that. “My wife Katherine told me that she would not breast feed after going through pregnancy by herself,” he said. Working with Katherine’s obstetrician, Adam began female hormone therapy with oestrogen and progesterone. After only two weeks, the changes started.
“I started feeling achiness in my chest, and I thought ‘I’m going to make baby some fresh milk!’,” said Adam. It took two months before Goldsmith could actually lactate and produce enough milk to feed his four-month-old child, Kiley. Although Adam cannot satisfy Kiley’s full feeding requirements, his breast feeding has allowed Katherine to resume working full-time as a corporate attorney.
“I wanted to get back to the office as soon as I could because the pregnancy really set me back,” said Katherine. “Adam’s treatment has evened the playing field in our relationship and our careers.” Katherine also said that she believes that science can complete what the gender equality movement began. “There is no reason why women need to contribute more to family life anymore,” she said.
For his part, Adam seems enthusiastic. “There is no better way to bond with your child than breast feeding,” he said. As far as appreciating his new parts, Adams says that they feel “ticklish” although he promised Katherine he would not play with them. “Katherine thinks that would be cheating.”
“I get a lot of requests for ‘feels’ but I just tell them ‘no.’”
Judith and Robert Hyman of Newton, Massachusetts outside Boston, also have undertaken hormone therapy to share the burdens of breast feeding. During her pregnancy Judith felt bogged down with her work as a senior marketing executive and afterwards did not have time to breast feed. “After the pregnancy, I had had enough,” she said.
Robert, an executive at an auto dealership, wanted to pitch in. “Judith deserved a break, and her career is so important to her sense of self,” he said. Also, Robert thought “it might bring us closer together for me to feel what it would be like to be a woman a little bit.” Robert continues to work part-time, and his co-workers have been understanding of his changes. “Of course, there are guys that don’t get it, but most of them are supportive,” he said. “I get a lot of requests for ‘feels’ but I just tell them ‘no.’”
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