The practice of men drinking their partner’s breast milk is to come under the microscope in a landmark study into the trend, which is growing in the African nation of Uganda.
The phenomenon is not uncommon in some areas of Uganda, and in parts of Kenya and Tanzania, reports Louise Hunt in an article for The Guardian.
There are concerns over the impact on babies’ nutrition and its link to gender violence and coercive behavior.
Now a study, by Kyambogo University in the Ugandan capital of Kampala and Britain’s University of Kent, will examine the causes and results of adult men demanding breast milk from their partners.
The trend was largely hidden from public view until Uganda’s minister of state for health, Sarah Opendi, spoke out in parliament in 2018.
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She warned of “a growing culture of men demanding to suckle, which was becoming a problem for some breastfeeding mothers and their babies”.
She went on to describe the reasons why many men claim they need the milk, saying “Men are part of the problem during breastfeeding. A mother is breastfeeding, you also want something on the other side, saying that it can cure HIV/Aids, cancer, and male dysfunction. It is a myth.”
